Definitions

gaudy

[gaw-dee] / ˈgɔ di /

ADJECTIVE

bright and vulgar

Synonyms

STRONGEST

brilliant flashy garish jazzy ostentatious showy snazzy splashy

STRONG

chichi crude gay gross pizazz screaming tinsel

WEAK

blatant brazen catchpenny chintzy coarse flaunting florid froufrou glaring gussied up kitschy loud meretricious obtrusive pretentious putting on the ritz raffish ritzy splendiferous tasteless tawdry

Antonyms

STRONGEST

modest normal plain simple tasteful

WEAK

calm drab dull refined sophisticated

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For those who think of late-career Elvis Presley as only a plump has-been, a gaudy Las Vegas crooner slinging schlock in the 1970s, Baz Luhrmann’s new movie is a bracing corrective.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

In a letter to critic George Jean Nathan, he described the conclusion as “merely the comma at the end of a gaudy introductory clause, with the body of the sentence still unwritten.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

It'll be long and tiresome in Washington on Friday, it's got all the potential to be gaudy and embarrassing, uneasy on the eyes and the ears.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2025

The compensation is unprecedented, but investors have chosen this type of gaudy compensation for Musk in the past.

From Barron's • Oct. 20, 2025

Then she looped a gaudy set of necklaces laden with gold discs the size of her palm around her neck and put a hand on her hip.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

Vocabulary lists containing gaudy

List 6

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Fast Food Nation

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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"

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