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
Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 14 Nov. 2025
The emails were the last straw for the House of Windsor after years of tawdry headlines about Andrew’s dodgy friends and suspicious business deals.
—CNN Money, 19 Oct. 2025
Those are the experiences, people say, that built the man's character, not the tawdry details of one moment in time.
—Jade Jackson, IndyStar, 15 Oct. 2025
For once in your tawdry, obese life, do the right thing.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tawdry
Adjective
But the January 6 riots and Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election gave a preview of tawdry things to come.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for tawdry
Adjective
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The groundbreaking research penetrated the last moments of the young nobleman, who suffered a terrible 26 blows.—
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History is full of cases where great bands make terrible records, yet history stands speechless at what the Clash accomplished here.—
Noun
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What was the strategic benefit to the US of all this geopolitical trumpery?—
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So will the border continue to vanish in the face of nativist backlash and a trumpery, gimcrack wall?—
Adjective
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Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.—
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In recent games, KU’s communication has been pretty poor on defense and that’s led to players taking (and too often missing) wide-open 3-pointers.—
Noun
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None of the 95 rooms at this palatial property, which first opened in the 1860s, is the same, and the decor is an eccentric mishmash that combines every era since then, from Victorian fripperies to sinuously streamlined Art Nouveau.—
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In tonight’s episode, Aurora has more to worry about than mere frippery.—
Adjective
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On a tour full of reasons to be miserable, England will leave Australia with at least one ray of light for the future.—
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The series centers around Timmy Turner, a miserable 10-year-old whose life improves significantly after he is given two fairy godparents named Wanda and Cosmo.—
Noun
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Trees must be clean of wooden stands, watering bowls, ornaments, lights, wires, string and any other festive finery.—
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Admire the Queen Anne and Italianate architecture, including original staircases, fireplace mantles and woodwork, and see these homes bedecked in their best holiday finery.—
Adjective
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In a city in which the house always wins — and so many others lose and lose — the Raiders’ rotten run of futility is getting old.—
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Learn how to banish that rotten egg smell from your washer while keeping it fresh, clean, and odor-free.—
Noun
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For many Americans who don’t celebrate Christmas, sitting out the foofaraw while the whole country conducts Christmas consumption is an annual dose of alienation.—
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No foofaraw: Of course a cleric—in Chih’s case, one who belongs to a holy order tasked with traveling the land and collecting stories—wouldn’t concern themself with gender.—
Cite this Entry
“Tawdry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tawdry. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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