as in terrible
marked by low quality and unbecoming appearance
We tolerate the neighbors' tawdry Christmas display during the holidays, but by January we're about sick of it.
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as in trumpery
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tawdry
Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2024
Trump’s tawdry parade Trump is just about the last person who can credibly criticize Biden’s pardon — which won’t stop him.
—Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Boards, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Dec. 2024
The younger Biden had denied use of illicit drugs while filling out that form — a claim that was a lie, as some tawdry testimony at his trial made clear.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Dec. 2024
Wolfe’s revival does justice to these contradictions: smart yet tawdry, high yet very low.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for tawdry
Adjective
Choosing the most wonderful time of the year as the time frame is clever and purposeful, too: For every twinkly Christmas tree and festive gathering, there’s a tawdry, dangerous scheme unfolding somewhere close by.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2024
Trump’s tawdry parade Trump is just about the last person who can credibly criticize Biden’s pardon — which won’t stop him.
—Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Boards, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Dec. 2024
The younger Biden had denied use of illicit drugs while filling out that form — a claim that was a lie, as some tawdry testimony at his trial made clear.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Dec. 2024
Wolfe’s revival does justice to these contradictions: smart yet tawdry, high yet very low.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for tawdry
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tawdry
Adjective
-
This is great news for our model but terrible for upsets.—
Jordan Brenner,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
-
The rhetoric pushed here is that someone with a high body count has less value and will either make a terrible partner or no one will want them in the first place.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
What was the strategic benefit to the US of all this geopolitical trumpery?—
Peter Bergen,
CNN,
28 May 2022
-
So will the border continue to vanish in the face of nativist backlash and a trumpery, gimcrack wall?—
Felipe Fernández-Armesto,
WSJ,
25 June 2018
Adjective
-
There’s a real debate to be had about what responsibility better-off neighborhoods like Hyde Park have to help solve humanitarian problems that often are laid at the feet of poorer areas.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Apr. 2025
-
The strong United cohort, almost entirely comprised of dominant sides under Ferguson, has not shied away from criticising the club, players and managers when results have been poor.—
Elias Burke,
New York Times,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Before Minecraft, the turnout for major films at the box office has been middling to miserable.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
-
Daryl was born in 1952, four years after the club’s last championship and just in time for four decades of miserable baseball on the lakeshore.—
Zack Meisel,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
At first, Valentín shows no interest in Molina’s frippery, but once he gets started on his detailed narration of the loopy movie plot, the political prisoner begins eagerly requesting further installments.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
3 Sep. 2019
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But who has time for all of that frippery, anyway, when war’s a-comin’?—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Then, the rotten cherry on top: my lightweight pack, overburdened with water and ill-equipped for the task, created a patch of chafe that eventually bloomed into an open wound.—
Shawnté Salabert,
Outside Online,
28 Mar. 2025
-
What rotten fortune all around, the best college player in the country – and the coolest – being ousted not by an upset but by injury.—
Mirjam Swanson,
Oc Register,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
To majorly commit, request everyone show up in tea-time finery—hats and all.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
15 Jan. 2025
-
But for all its imperial finery and grandeur, the waltz was the people’s dance.—
Mark Swed,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Numerous territories across the globe including in Europe, Australia and Canada have solidified these as streaming services take advantage of their cheaper production hubs.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
3 Apr. 2025
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In the early 1970s, the widespread availability of cheap, preformed fiberglass pools meant the rate of young children drowning soared.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
3 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tawdry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tawdry. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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