different between flashy vs meretricious

English

Etymology

flash +? -y

Pronunciation

• enPR: fl?sh'?, IPA^(key): /?flæ?i/

• Rhymes: -æ?i

Adjective

flashy (comparative flashier, superlative flashiest)

1. Showy; visually impressive, attention-getting, or appealing.

   The dancers wore flashy costumes featuring shiny sequins in many vibrant colors.

2. (dated, poetic) Flashing; producing flashes.

   a flashy light

   • 1826, Benjamin Apthorp Gould, The Works of Vergil: Translated into English Prose

     […] the accustomed warmth pierced his marrow, and ran thrilling through his shaken bones; just as when at times, with forked thunder burst, a chinky stream of fire in flashy lightning shoots athwart the skies.

3. (archaic) Drunk; tipsy

Synonyms

• (visually impressive): See also Thesaurus:gaudy
• (producing flashes): blinking, fulgorous
• (drunk): See also Thesaurus:drunk

Translations

Anagrams

• fly ash

English

Etymology

From Latin meretr?cius, from meretr?x (“harlot, prostitute”), from mere? (“earn, deserve, merit”) (English merit) + -tr?x (“(female agent)”) (English -trix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m????t????s/, /?m????t????s/
• Rhymes: -???s

Adjective

meretricious (comparative more meretricious, superlative most meretricious)

1. Tastelessly gaudy; superficially attractive but having in reality no value or substance; falsely alluring.
   • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 164:

     When I lifted my eyes from the page, there was none of the meretricious argument London always offers that the sole real purpose in life is to hustle for a buck.

2. (law) Involving unlawful sexual connection or lack of consent by at least one party (said of a romantic relationship).
3. (obsolete) Of, or relating to prostitutes or prostitution.

Synonyms

• (tastelessly showy): brassy, cheap, flashy, garish, gaudy, gimcrack, tacky, tatty, tawdry, trashy

Related terms

• merit (see also: merit: related terms)

Translations