different between dreadful vs tawdry
dreadful
English
Alternative forms
- dreadfull
- dredful (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?d??d.f?l/
Etymology
From Middle English dredful, dredfull, dredeful (also dreful), equivalent to dread +? -ful.
Adjective
dreadful (comparative more dreadful, superlative most dreadful)
- Full of something causing dread, whether
- Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky.
- 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chapter 23:
- "...Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning..."
- 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chapter 23:
- (hyperbolic) Unpleasant, awful, very bad (also used as an intensifier).
- 1682, T. Creech's translation of Lucretius, De Natura Rerum, Book II, 52:
- Here some... Look dreadful gay in their own sparkling blood.
- 1682, T. Creech's translation of Lucretius, De Natura Rerum, Book II, 52:
- (obsolete) Awesome, awe-inspiring, causing feelings of reverence.
- Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming; dangerous, risky.
- (obsolete) Full of dread, whether
- Scared, afraid, frightened.
- Timid, easily frightened.
- Reverential, full of pious awe.
Adverb
dreadful (comparative more dreadful, superlative most dreadful)
- (informal) Dreadfully.
Usage notes
The senses of "dreadful" synonymous with "afraid" similarly use the infinitive or the preposition "of": they were dreadful to build or the boy was dreadful of his majesty. These senses are, however, now obsolete.
When used as an intensifier, "dreadful" is actually a form of the adverb "dreadfully" and thus considered informal or vulgar.
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:frightening
- See Thesaurus:bad
Derived terms
- dreadfully
- dreadfulness
Translations
Noun
dreadful (plural dreadfuls)
- A shocker: a report of a crime written in a provokingly lurid style.
- A journal or broadsheet printing such reports.
- A shocking or sensational crime.
Derived terms
- penny dreadful
Further reading
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
dreadful From the web:
- what dreadful means
- what dreadful situation is knox referring to
- what dreadful dole is here
- what dreadful oracle was cited in the story
- what does dreadful mean
- what is meant by dreadful
tawdry
English
Etymology
Shortened from tawdry lace; originally a corruption of Saint Audrey lace (from Old English Æþelþryþ). The lace necklaces sold to pilgrims to Saint Audrey fell out of fashion in the 17th century, and so tawdry was reinterpreted as meaning “cheap” or “vulgar”.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?t??d?i/
Noun
tawdry (uncountable)
- (obsolete) Tawdry lace. [17th c.]
- (obsolete) Anything gaudy and cheap; pretentious finery. [17th–19th c.]
- 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 65:
- That fiddling, parading fellow (you know who I mean) made us wait for him two hours […] only for the sake of having a little more tawdry upon his housings […].
- 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 65:
Adjective
tawdry (comparative tawdrier, superlative tawdriest)
- (of clothing, appearance, etc.) Cheap and gaudy; showy.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:gaudy
- 1890, Knut Hamsen, Sult (Hunger), Part One, at p.34 (Canongate Books Ltd. 2016 paperback edition, Sverre Lyngstad 1996 translation):
- This wasn't really a room for me; the green curtains before the windows were rather tawdry, and there was anything but an abundance of nails on the walls for hanging one's wardrobe.
- (of character, behavior, situations, etc.) Unseemly, base, shameful.
- Synonym: sordid
Translations
Further reading
- tawdry at OneLook Dictionary Search
tawdry From the web:
- tawdry meaning
- tawdry what does it mean
- what does tawdry
- what do tawdry mean
- what does tawdry mean in a sentence
- what does tawdry lace mean
- what is tawdry used in a sentence
- what does tawdry mean in spanish
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