garish

adjective

gar·​ish ˈger-ish 

1

: clothed in vivid colors

a garish clown

2

a

: excessively or disturbingly vivid

garish colors

garish imagery

b

: offensively or distressingly bright : glaring

3

: tastelessly showy : flashy

garish neon signs

garishly adverb

garishness noun

Synonyms

• flamboyant
• flaring
• flashy
• gaudy
• glitzy
• loud
• noisy
• ostentatious
• razzle-dazzle
• splashy
• swank
• swanky

Choose the Right Synonym for garish

gaudy, tawdry, garish, flashy, meretricious mean vulgarly or cheaply showy.

gaudy implies a tasteless use of overly bright, often clashing colors or excessive ornamentation.

circus performers in gaudy costumes

tawdry applies to what is at once gaudy and cheap and sleazy.

tawdry saloons

garish describes what is distressingly or offensively bright.

garish neon signs

flashy implies an effect of brilliance quickly and easily seen to be shallow or vulgar.

a flashy nightclub act

meretricious stresses falsity and may describe a tawdry show that beckons with a false allure or promise.

a meretricious wasteland of casinos and bars

Examples of garish in a Sentence

the wedding guest's thick makeup was garish and unnecessary

Recent Examples on the Web

Ryan enjoys the performances of Quinn and Hechinger, both perversely weird and in garish face powder and recalling Joaquin Phoenix’s incestuous turn in the first film, but the movie doesn’t quite go far enough into the twisted and weird. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2024

Tom did grow up an orphan, under the care of his garish Aunt Dottie. —Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2024

First exhibited in Italy, these paintings and prints match the exuberance of their sitters with kaleidoscopic colors; their transfers appear enlivened by Warhol’s generous brush or swaths of garish collage. —Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 4 Oct. 2024

But that performance was purely external, with the garish flashiness of costume jewelry. —Tom Gliatto, People.com, 3 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1545, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

garish

adjective

gar·​ish ˈga(ə)r-ish 

ˈge(ə)r-

: too bright or showy : gaudy

garishly adverb

garishness noun