different between shoddy vs tacky

English

Etymology

• Unknown, but possibly from shoad (“loose stone and rubble; fragments”), equivalent to shoad +? -y; or possibly from the Arabic word for reuse. Shoad was of inferior quality for building.
• The modern adjectival sense was apparently derived from inexpensive shoddy (“fabric from wool-processing byproduct”), which was not really suitable for (but was sometimes still used for) things such as military uniforms at the beginning of the US Civil War.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??di/
• Rhymes: -?di

Adjective

shoddy (comparative shoddier, superlative shoddiest)

1. Of poor quality or construction

   Do not settle for shoddy knives if you are serious about cooking.

2. (dated) pretentious, sham, counterfeit
3. (dated) ambitious by reason of newly-acquired wealth; nouveau riche

Translations

Noun

shoddy (countable and uncountable, plural shoddies)

1. A low-grade cloth made from by-products of wool processing, or from recycled wool.
   • 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford 2003, p. 324:

     To fill contracts for hundreds of thousands of uniforms, textile manufacturers compressed the fibers of recycled woolen goods into a material called “shoddy”.

2. (dated) Worthless goods.
3. (colloquial, dated) Vulgar pretence or sham.

Derived terms

• shoddy fever

Translations

See also

• mungo
• noil

References

• [1]

English

Etymology 1

tack +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tæki/

• Rhymes: -æki

Adjective

tacky (comparative tackier, superlative tackiest)

1. Of a substance, slightly sticky.

   Hypernyms: see Thesaurus:adhesive

Translations

Etymology 2

Sense “in poor taste” from 1888, from earlier sense meaning shabby or seedy. Also see tackey (“neglected horse”), Southern US colloquialism from 1800s, later extended to people.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tæki/

• Rhymes: -æki

Adjective

tacky (comparative tackier, superlative tackiest)

2. (colloquial) Of low quality.

3. (colloquial) In poor taste.

4. Gaudy or flashy.

   Synonyms: flashy, showy, garish

   • 1967, S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders

     Steve Randle was seventeen, tall and lean, with thick greasy hair he kept combed in complicated swirls. He was tacky, smart, and Soda's best buddy since grade school.

5. Shabby, dowdy in one's appearance or dress.

   Synonym: dowdy

Derived terms

• ticky-tacky

Translations

Noun

tacky (plural tackies)

1. Alternative form of tackey

Anagrams

• Tyack