garish

adjective

ˈger-ish How to pronounce garish (audio)
Definition of garishnext
as in loud
excessively showy the wedding guest's thick makeup was garish and unnecessary

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective garish contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of garish are flashy, gaudy, meretricious, and tawdry. While all these words mean "vulgarly or cheaply showy," garish describes what is distressingly or offensively bright.

garish neon signs

When might flashy be a better fit than garish?

While the synonyms flashy and garish are close in meaning, flashy implies an effect of brilliance quickly and easily seen to be shallow or vulgar.

a flashy nightclub act

Where would gaudy be a reasonable alternative to garish?

The meanings of gaudy and garish largely overlap; however, gaudy implies a tasteless use of overly bright, often clashing colors or excessive ornamentation.

circus performers in gaudy costumes

When can meretricious be used instead of garish?

Although the words meretricious and garish have much in common, meretricious stresses falsity and may describe a tawdry show that beckons with a false allure or promise.

a meretricious wasteland of casinos and bars

When could tawdry be used to replace garish?

While in some cases nearly identical to garish, tawdry applies to what is at once gaudy and cheap and sleazy.

tawdry saloons

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of garish Window displays teemed with jewelry, garish clothes and souvenirs. — James Barron, New York Times, 10 Feb. 2025 Their latest is a redo of the Tesla Cybertruck, which is predictably garish, though some might say that the Cybertruck was never all that beautiful to begin with. — Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 28 Feb. 2025 With a two-tone black and copper design, the earbuds look stylish without being garish or over the top. — PCMAG, 5 Feb. 2025 Lopez’s Spider Woman gets a bad pixie wig and even more garish goth costuming appropriate for a bewitching, bitchy succubus. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 26 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for garish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for garish
  1. loud
  2. noisy
  3. gaudy
Adjective
  • Some of these factors, particularly stress, are in part because of the shelter’s outdated and loud kennels.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacramento Bee, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Speaker technology is pretty miraculous, with increasingly smaller casings providing rich, loud sound through Bluetooth connections.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PCMAG, 19 Mar. 2025
Definition of loud
Adjective
  • Uniformity In Spectral Reflectance: Satellites that acquire images at the same hour and angle are inherently less noisy and therefore the computer vision models’ accuracies improve.
    — Elizabeth Duffy, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
  • Gas weed eaters have more power than electric or battery-powered weed eaters but are also much noisier.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 3 Mar. 2025
Definition of noisy
Adjective
  • Andy Enfield’s team needs a gaudy record to offset its lack of Q1 triumphs.
    — Jim Root, The Athletic, 13 Feb. 2025
  • Did the Bears even have a defensive team meeting this week? Sure enough, Purdy went 2-for-5 against those man-to-man snaps, albeit for a gaudy 71 yards.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 9 Dec. 2024
Definition of gaudy

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Cite this Entry

“Garish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/garish. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.

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