tawdry
adjective/ˈtɔːdri/
/ˈtɔːdri/
(disapproving)- intended to be bright and attractive but cheap and of low quality
- tawdry jewellery
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- involving low moral standards; extremely unpleasant or offensive
- a tawdry affair
Word Originearly 17th cent.: short for tawdry lace, a fine silk lace or ribbon worn as a necklace in the 16th–17th cents, contraction of St Audrey's lace: Audrey was a later form of Etheldrida (died 679), patron saint of Ely where tawdry laces, along with cheap imitations and other cheap finery, were traditionally sold at a fair.
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