GARISH Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the adjective 'garish' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of garish are flashy , gaudy , meretricious , and tawdry . While all these words mean "vulgarly or cheaply showy," garish describes what is distressingly or offensively bright. // garish neon signs

Q: When might 'flashy' be a better fit than 'garish'?

While the synonyms flashy and garish are close in meaning, flashy implies an effect of brilliance quickly and easily seen to be shallow or vulgar. // a flashy nightclub act

Q: Where would 'gaudy' be a reasonable alternative to 'garish'?

The meanings of gaudy and garish largely overlap; however, gaudy implies a tasteless use of overly bright, often clashing colors or excessive ornamentation. // circus performers in gaudy costumes

Q: When can 'meretricious' be used instead of 'garish'?

Although the words meretricious and garish have much in common, meretricious stresses falsity and may describe a tawdry show that beckons with a false allure or promise. // a meretricious wasteland of casinos and bars

Q: When could 'tawdry' be used to replace 'garish'?

While in some cases nearly identical to garish , tawdry applies to what is at once gaudy and cheap and sleazy. // tawdry saloons

garish

adjective

ˈger-ish

Definition of garish next

as in loud

excessively showy the wedding guest's thick makeup was garish and unnecessary

Synonyms & Similar Words

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How does the adjective garish contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of garish are flashy, gaudy, meretricious, and tawdry. While all these words mean "vulgarly or cheaply showy," garish describes what is distressingly or offensively bright.

garish neon signs

When might flashy be a better fit than garish?

While the synonyms flashy and garish are close in meaning, flashy implies an effect of brilliance quickly and easily seen to be shallow or vulgar.

a flashy nightclub act

Where would gaudy be a reasonable alternative to garish?

The meanings of gaudy and garish largely overlap; however, gaudy implies a tasteless use of overly bright, often clashing colors or excessive ornamentation.

circus performers in gaudy costumes

When can meretricious be used instead of garish?

Although the words meretricious and garish have much in common, meretricious stresses falsity and may describe a tawdry show that beckons with a false allure or promise.

a meretricious wasteland of casinos and bars

When could tawdry be used to replace garish?

While in some cases nearly identical to garish, tawdry applies to what is at once gaudy and cheap and sleazy.

tawdry saloons

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of garish Something is amiss when the garish and grotesque displays go up earlier and get uglier every year even as people’s belief in their religious purpose fades. —

Fr. Donald Planty, National Review, 6 Oct. 2024 Georgie’s cake is equally garish and brilliant and inspired by her auntie’s bathroom, which had a carpet and, most likely, one of those little dolls with a crocheted skirt to hold an extra roll of toilet paper. —

Brian Moylan, Vulture, 15 Nov. 2024 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 See all Example Sentences for garish

Recent Examples of Synonyms for garish

Adjective

And that’s the fine line developers and studio heads have to walk in the face of this newer, meaner, louder movement against diversity in the industry: whether or not to acknowledge its existence.

Alyssa Mercante, Rolling Stone, 7 Dec. 2024
The result has been a film rollout that at times feels louder than the film itself.

New York Times, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2024