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Gaudy vs Flimsy - What's the difference?

gaudy | flimsy | Synonyms |

Gaudy is a synonym of flimsy.


As adjectives the difference between gaudy and flimsy

is that gaudy is very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner while flimsy is likely to bend or break under pressure; weak, shaky, flexible, or fragile.

As nouns the difference between gaudy and flimsy

is that gaudy is one of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited or gaudy can be a reunion held by one of the colleges of the university of oxford for alumni, normally held during the summer vacations while flimsy is thin typing paper used to make multiple copies.

gaudy

English

Etymology 1

Origin uncertain; perhaps from . A common claim that the word derives from , is not supported by evidence (the word was in use at least half a century before Gaudí was born).

Adjective

(er)
  • very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner
  • * Shakespeare
    • Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, / But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy .
  • * 1813 , , Pride and Prejudice
    • The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of its proprietor; but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine; with less of splendour, and more real elegance, than the furniture of Rosings.
  • * 1887 , Homer Greene, Burnham Breaker
    • A large gaudy , flowing cravat, and an ill-used silk hat, set well back on the wearer's head, completed this somewhat noticeable costume.
  • * 2005 , Thomas Hauser & Marilyn Cole Lownes, "How Bling-bling Took Over the Ring", The Observer , 9 January 2005
    • Gaudy jewellery might offend some people's sense of style. But former heavyweight champion and grilling-machine entrepreneur George Foreman is philosophical about today's craze for bling-bling.
  • (obsolete) gay; merry; festive
    • (Tennyson)
  • * Shakespeare
    • Let's have one other gaudy night.
  • * Twain
    • And then, there he was, slim and handsome, and dressed the gaudiest and prettiest you ever saw...
    Synonyms
    * (excessively showy) tawdry, flashy, garish, kitschy *
    Derived terms
    * gaudily * gaudy night

    Noun

    (gaudies)
  • One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited.
    • (Gower)

    Etymology 2

    From Latin gaudium "joy".

    Noun

    (gaudies)
  • A reunion held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford for alumni, normally held during the summer vacations.

    • flimsy

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Likely to bend or break under pressure; weak, shaky, flexible, or fragile.
    • He expected the flimsy structure to collapse at any moment.
  • * Sheridan
    • All the flimsy furniture of a country miss's brain.

    Antonyms

    * robust * strong * sturdy

    Noun

    (flimsies)
  • Thin typing paper used to make multiple copies.
  • *1977 , , The Honourable Schoolboy , Folio Society 2010, p. 251:
  • *:Smiley peered once more at the flimsy which he still clutched in his pudgy hand.
  • (informal, in the plural) Skimpy underwear.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=October 25, author=Ruth La Ferla, title=Now It’s Nobody’s Secret, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Choosing lingerie “is about what makes you look good, but also what looks good with or through your clothing,” said Monica Mitro, a spokeswoman for Victoria’s Secret, the brand that catapulted racy flimsies into the public eye. }}