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tawdriness

   Also found in: Legal, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
taw·dry  (tôdr)
adj. taw·dri·er, taw·dri·est
1. Gaudy and cheap in nature or appearance. See Synonyms at gaudy1.
2. Shameful or indecent: tawdry secrets.
n.
Cheap and gaudy finery.

[From tawdry lace, lace necktie, alteration of Saint Audrey's lace (sold at the annual Saint Audrey's fair, Ely, England), after Saint Audrey (Saint Etheldreda), queen of Northumbria, who died in 679 of a throat tumor, supposedly because she delighted in fancy necklaces as a young woman.]

tawdri·ly adv.
tawdri·ness n.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.tawdriness - tasteless showinesstawdriness - tasteless showiness                  
tastelessness - inelegance indicated by a lack of good taste
Translations
tawdriness [ˈtɔːdrɪnɪs] N [of place, town] → chabacanería f
tawdriness
n (of jewellery, decorations etc)ordinäre Protzigkeit; (of story, idea)Geschmacklosigkeit f; the tawdriness of her appearanceihre billige und geschmacklose Aufmachung


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The argument between large or small tawdriness is only minimally significant.
I particularly like this one: AT A MELODRAMA The leading lady suffered, while I yawned; But a girl beside Me sat and cried-- Her tears that rose unbidden washed away The timeworn tawdriness that stained the play.
Such desperate tawdriness makes me long for the days when a PETA operative would show up outside the Sole in a family-friendly fish costume, advocating for the rights of haddock by holding a poignant sign reading, "Don't Batter Me.
 
 
 
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