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Tawdry
Open directlyWebster's 1828 Dictionary · 1828 1 of 2
Part of speech: noun (n.)
A necklace of a rural fashion, bought at St. Audrey's fair; hence, a necklace in general. [Obs.] Of which the Naiads and the blue Nereids make Them tawdries for their necks. Drayton.
Webster's 1828 Dictionary · 1828 2 of 2
Part of speech: adjective (a.)
1. Bought at the festival of St. Audrey. [Obs.] And gird in your waist, For more fineness, with a tawdry lace. Spenser.
2. Very fine and showy in colors, without taste or elegance; having an excess of showy ornaments without grace; cheap and gaudy; as, a tawdry dress; tawdry feathers; tawdry colors. He rails from morning to night at essenced fops and tawdry courtiers. Spectator.