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Gaudy vs Kitsch - What's the difference?

gaudy | kitsch |

As nouns the difference between gaudy and kitsch

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 kitsch is .

As an adjective gaudy

is very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner.

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.

    • kitsch

    English

    (wikipedia kitsch)

    Noun

    (-)
  • Art, decorative objects and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.
  • * 1939 , , " Avant Garde and Kitsch", The Partisan Review ,
    • Because it can be turned out mechanically, kitsch has become an integral part of our productive system in a way in which true culture could never be, except accidentally.

    Synonyms

    * camp

    Related terms

    * kitschy

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Said especially of art and decor that is considered to be of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.
  • * 1989 , Graham Greene, Yours etc: Letters to the Press 1945-1989 , ISBN 1871061229, p. 243,
  • * 1996 , Robert Silberman, "The stuff of art: Judy Onofrio", American Craft , Jun/Jul 1996, pp. 40-45,
    • Abe Lincoln, Paul Bunyan and kitsch souvenir coconut heads come across as icons of masculinity.
  • * 2005 , Ronald Frame, "Critical Paranoia", Michigan Quarterly Review , Spring 2005, p. 285,
    • I recognized her at once even though she wasn't wearing the tweed hunting outfit and the kitsch headwear.

    Usage notes

    * Although the forms (kitscher) and (kitschest) are attested, those formed on (kitschy) are more common, particularly for the comparative.

    Synonyms

    * corny

    Anagrams

    * ----