tawdrier

Adjective

tawdry (comparative tawdrier, superlative tawdriest)

1. Of clothing, appearance, etc., cheap and gaudy; showy.
   • The rest of his dress—a dress always sufficiently tawdry—was overcharged with lace, embroidery, and ornament of every kind, and the plume of feathers which he wore was so high, as if intended to sweep the roof of the hall.1823, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 33, in Quentin Durward

   Synonyms:

   bedizened, blatant, blingish, brash, campy, catchpenny, chichi, chintzy, corny, crass

2. Of a character, behavior, or situation, etc., unseemly, base, mean-spirited, shameful.
   • [T]he "greaser" was a dirty, idle, shiftless, treacherous, tawdry vagabond, dwelling in a disgracefully primitive house, and backward in every aspect of civilization.1918, Stewart Edward White, chapter 1, in The Forty-Niners

   Synonyms:

   sordid

See all 4 meanings of tawdry