different between tasteless vs tawdry

English

Etymology

taste +? -less

Adjective

tasteless (comparative more tasteless, superlative most tasteless)

1. Having no flavour; bland, insipid
2. Lacking delicacy, refinement and good taste; unbecoming, crass.

Derived terms

• tastelessness
• tastelessly

Translations

Anagrams

• stateless

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)

1. (obsolete) Tawdry lace. [17th c.]
2. (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 […].

Adjective

tawdry (comparative tawdrier, superlative tawdriest)

1. (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.
2. (of character, behavior, situations, etc.) Unseemly, base, shameful.

   Synonym: sordid

Translations

Further reading

• tawdry at OneLook Dictionary Search