Word of the Day

: June 4, 2008

tawdry

adjective TAW-dree

What It Means

: cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality; also : ignoble

tawdry in Context

Tom and Pam found themselves in an unfamiliar section of the city, walking by tawdry storefronts and shady bars.

Did You Know?

In the 7th century, Etheldreda, the queen of Northumbria, renounced her husband and her royal position for the veil of a nun. She was renowned for her saintliness and is traditionally said to have died of a swelling in her throat, which she took as a judgment upon her fondness for wearing necklaces in her youth. Her shrine became a principal site of pilgrimage in England. An annual fair was held in her honor on October 17th, and her name became simplified to St. Audrey. At these fairs various kinds of cheap knickknacks were sold, along with a type of necklace called "St. Audrey's lace," which by the 17th century had become altered to "tawdry lace." Eventually, "tawdry" came to be used to describe anything cheap and gaudy that might be found at these fairs or anywhere else.