garish

adjective

gar·​ish ˈger-ish 

1

: clothed in vivid colors

a garish clown

2

a

: excessively or disturbingly vivid

garish colors

garish imagery

b

: offensively or distressingly bright : glaring

3

: tastelessly showy : flashy

garish neon signs

garishly adverb

garishness noun

Synonyms

• flamboyant
• flaring
• flashy
• gaudy
• glitzy
• loud
• noisy
• ostentatious
• razzle-dazzle
• splashy
• swank
• swanky

Choose the Right Synonym for garish

gaudy, tawdry, garish, flashy, meretricious mean vulgarly or cheaply showy.

gaudy implies a tasteless use of overly bright, often clashing colors or excessive ornamentation.

circus performers in gaudy costumes

tawdry applies to what is at once gaudy and cheap and sleazy.

tawdry saloons

garish describes what is distressingly or offensively bright.

garish neon signs

flashy implies an effect of brilliance quickly and easily seen to be shallow or vulgar.

a flashy nightclub act

meretricious stresses falsity and may describe a tawdry show that beckons with a false allure or promise.

a meretricious wasteland of casinos and bars

Examples of garish in a Sentence

the wedding guest's thick makeup was garish and unnecessary

Recent Examples on the Web

The movie has little dialogue, with most of the talking done by a garish television executive played by Dennis Quaid (Ray Liotta was cast in the role before his death). —Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Sep. 2024

As a filmmaker, Lee Daniels tends to get slagged off on for being flamboyantly garish and over-the-top. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024

The garish and unpleasant use of CGI to resurrect the late Ian Holm as an unnerving copycat of his original android Ash feels like an apt metaphor for a film more concerned with chasing the past than charting itself a new course. —Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 15 Aug. 2024

The space, sitting a few steps below street level, is narrow and near-windowless; its low ceilings, tight quarters, and garish colors give an impression less of the lemon-scented hillsides of Sicily than of being stuck below deck on a new-money schooner. —Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1545, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

garish

adjective

gar·​ish ˈga(ə)r-ish 

ˈge(ə)r-

: too bright or showy : gaudy

garishly adverb

garishness noun