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Gaudy vs Tacky - What's the difference?

gaudy | tacky |

As adjectives the difference between gaudy and tacky

is that gaudy is very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner while tacky is of a substance, slightly sticky.

As a noun gaudy

is one of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited.

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.

    • tacky

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Of a substance, slightly sticky.
    • This paint isn't dry yet - it's still a bit tacky.
  • (colloquial) Of low quality.
    • That market stall sells all sorts of tacky ornaments.
  • (colloquial) In poor taste.
    • That was a tacky thing to say.
  • gaudy, flashy, showy, garish
  • dowdy, shabbily dressed
  • shabby, dowdy (in one's appearance)