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tawdry

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective tawdry contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of tawdry are flashy, garish, gaudy, and meretricious. While all these words mean "vulgarly or cheaply showy," tawdry applies to what is at once gaudy and cheap and sleazy.

tawdry saloons

When is flashy a more appropriate choice than tawdry?

In some situations, the words flashy and tawdry are roughly equivalent. However, flashy implies an effect of brilliance quickly and easily seen to be shallow or vulgar.

a flashy nightclub act

In what contexts can garish take the place of tawdry?

The meanings of garish and tawdry largely overlap; however, garish describes what is distressingly or offensively bright.

garish neon signs

When is it sensible to use gaudy instead of tawdry?

While in some cases nearly identical to tawdry, gaudy implies a tasteless use of overly bright, often clashing colors or excessive ornamentation.

circus performers in gaudy costumes

When would meretricious be a good substitute for tawdry?

The words meretricious and tawdry can be used in similar contexts, but meretricious stresses falsity and may describe a tawdry show that beckons with a false allure or promise.

a meretricious wasteland of casinos and bars

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tawdry
Noun
The tawdry soap is the favorite show consumed by the titular trash-TV-loving security robot, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård). Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 24 May 2025 Though the central bank’s partisans will claim in breathy tones that the Fed’s thinking and decisions aren’t compromised by the tawdry politics that so many associate with Washington, the reality is quite different. John Tamny, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025 For every stodgy conservator who might consider the guitar a tawdry, lowbrow diversion, there’s a cultural critic who dismisses it as an object of boomer nostalgia, about as musically relevant in this post-rockist era as the harpsichord. Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 19 May 2025 But our concern is not with tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes, and ball gowns. Steve Weisman, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tawdry
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tawdry
Adjective
  • But when terrible news arrives about her ex, all eyes turn to Ana — whose reputation isn't exactly sterling.
    Lizz Schumer, People.com, 21 July 2025
  • There will be four questions related to easing the city’s terrible housing shortage, all useful and needed, and one useless question about moving our local elections from odd years, like this present year, to presidential contest years.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 21 July 2025
Noun
  • What was the strategic benefit to the US of all this geopolitical trumpery?
    Peter Bergen, CNN, 28 May 2022
  • So will the border continue to vanish in the face of nativist backlash and a trumpery, gimcrack wall?
    Felipe Fernández-Armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018
Adjective
  • This last group is those with still poor (<50) RS Ratings, but strong (>80) 3-month RS Ratings. a.
    Randy Watts, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025
  • Here are the inspection scores and violations for restaurants within the city limits of Arlington for June 29th - July 5th, 2025 A score of 100 is a perfect score and 70 is considered to be extremely poor.
    Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 July 2025
Adjective
  • For now, this is DeVries on the job: intent but measured, teeth ready to clamp down on his tongue, establishing standards while also very much trying to make sure his team isn’t miserable from the beginning.
    Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 11 July 2025
  • His Panthers opened the season with two miserable losses, complete with booing from fans in the home opener, and the 23-year-old soon became the first quarterback selected No. 1 overall in the Super Bowl era to be benched for non-injury reasons.
    Eric Jackson, Sportico.com, 7 July 2025
Noun
  • In tonight’s episode, Aurora has more to worry about than mere frippery.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 30 June 2025
  • Buying the Original marks you as a practical person who cares not for frippery.
    Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • But today that moral arc is as twisted as a gnarled, rotten root, and God Bless America has been replaced by the mournful dirge of Taps.
    Marci Alborghetti, Hartford Courant, 3 July 2025
  • The odor comes from a toxic gas that’s colorless and smells like rotten eggs.
    Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 July 2025
Noun
  • Churchgoers that chilly April day weren't able to show off their Easter finery.
    Chris Foran, jsonline.com, 3 July 2025
  • Lots of fine, elaborate costume work on display this season, from the quick-change finery of The Picture of Dorian Gray to the spot-on tidy drudgery of ’70s-era Blackpool in The Hills of California.
    Greg Evans, Deadline, 6 June 2025
Adjective
  • Prospect Capital is now the cheapest BDC on the market, trading at just 46% of NAV.
    Brett Owens, Forbes.com, 20 July 2025
  • For years, the equation seemed simple: look for the cheapest fare, even if the trip was mediocre.
    Wilson Santiago Burgos, USA Today, 20 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Tawdry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tawdry. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.

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