different between tawdry vs lairy

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

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l???i/

Etymology 1

Variation of leery, originally Cockney slang.

Adjective

lairy (comparative lairier, superlative lairiest)

1. (Britain) Touchy, aggressive or confrontational, usually while drunk.

Etymology 2

Thought to be from leery (“knowing, streetwise”).

Adjective

lairy (comparative lairier, superlative lairiest)

1. (Australia) Vulgar and flashy.
   • 1983, National Book Council (Australia), Australian Book Review, Issues 48-57, page 29,

     He was lairy alright, resplendent in a purple blazer and pink trousers.

   • 2008, Helen Garner, True Stories, page 255,

     They had no wedding party, only an Australian couple in their sixties, the woman in a great deal of pancake and blusher and a lairy fur jacket.

   • 2009, Sally Neighbour, The Mother of Mohammed: An Australian Woman?s Extraordinary Journey Into Jihad, page 176,

     Sungkar told Rabiah he thought of her as he rode to freedom on his motor scooter through the green wrought-iron gates, disguised in a pair of blue jeans and a lairy short-sleeved batik shirt: ‘Rabiah reckoned the safari suit was bad—if only she could see me now’.

2. (Australia) Socially unacceptable.

Derived terms

• lair
• lairiser

References

Anagrams

• airly, riyal