19 March 2015
gaudy (1)
[gaw-dee]
adjective, gaudier, gaudiest.
1. brilliantly or excessively showy:
gaudy plumage.
2. cheaply showy in a tasteless way; flashy.
3. ostentatiously ornamented; garish.
Origin
1520-1530; orig. attributive use of gaudy2; later taken as a derivative of gaud
Related forms
gaudily, adverb
gaudiness, noun
ungaudily, adverb
ungaudiness, noun
Synonyms
2. tawdry, loud; conspicuous, obvious. Gaudy, flashy, garish, showy agree in the idea of conspicuousness and, often, bad taste. That which is gaudy challenges the eye, as by brilliant colors or evident cost, and is not in good taste: a gaudy hat. Flashy suggests insistent and vulgar display, in rather a sporty manner: a flashy necktie. Garish suggests a glaring brightness, or crude vividness of color, and too much ornamentation: garish decorations. Showy applies to that which is strikingly conspicuous, but not necessarily offensive to good taste: a garden of showy flowers; a showy dress.
Antonyms
2. modest, sober.
gaudy (2)
[gaw-dee]
noun, plural gaudies. British
1. a festival or celebration, especially an annual college feast.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English < Latin gaudium joy, delight
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for gaudy
– gaudy dyes were used for bright and vivid coloring making the pictures seem somewhat non-lifelike.
– But Miami is always there: gaudy, gleaming, and glad of it.
– The gaudy saga goes on far too long, the strain of sustaining a riotous tone sets in and the comedy runs thin.
Today’s aphorism
For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.
– Plato
On this day
19 March 1932 – Opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Captain Frank de Groot is arrested when he rides up on his horse and cuts the ribbon before the Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, can cut it. Captain de Groot was a member of a right-wing paramilitary group called the New Guard who was politically opposed to the more left-wing Premier Lang. De Groot claimed he was protesting that the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Phillip Game, should have opened the Bridge.
19 March 1950 – death of Edgar Rice Burroughs, American science fiction author: Tarzan, Mars series (on which the 2012 movie ‘John Carter‘ was based).
19 March 1982 – death of Randy Rhoads, American heavy metal guitarist, played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. Rhoads was on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, heading to Orlando, Florida when their bus broke down near an airstrip at Leesburg, Florida. While some of the band continued sleeping in the van, the driver (an ex-commercial pilot) took one of the light planes for joy-rides with some of the band members. He didn’t have permission for the flights. Randy Rhoads and make-up artist, Rachel Youngblood were on the second flight. The pilot thought it would be funny to buzz the tour bus by flying as close as possible to it. On the third pass, the plane’s wing clipped the bus causing the plane to spiral out of control and for Rhoads and Youngblood’s heads to smash through the plane’s windshield. The plane severed the top of a pine tree before crashing into a garage at a nearby mansion. Rhoads, Youngblood and the pilot (Andrew Aycock) died instantly, all burnt beyond recognition. In 1987, Ozzy Osbourne released a live album in memory of Rhoads, called ‘Tribute’, it featured Osbourne and Rhoad’s work together. Rhoads was born on 6 December 1956.
19 March 2003 – The Second Gulf War commences as the U.S. led ‘Coalition of the Willing’ invade Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
