Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "gaudy" []

  • Showy in a tasteless or vulgar way. (adjective)
  • Chiefly British A feast, especially an annual university dinner. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "gaudy" in a sentence
  • "Bender's fiction accepts those constraints and relates decidedly familiar stories dressed up in gaudy but cheap disguises."
  • "You nod and smile with every paragraph, and wish the story would unroll into a novel, breaking the boundaries of the book, streaming in gaudy tapestries, out through the door and into the blue wide yonder - to the place where awards are distributed and happy critics fall over themselves to lavish praise (this story did not win any awards, by the way) Why am I so excited about this?"
  • "The odds were amazingly against me finding a hat I would ever wear again, because as you may recall, these retailers specialize in beachwear that makes the word gaudy hang its head in shame."