Tawdry (adj)
taw-dree
Gaudy, showy and cheap. Low or mean.
1605–15; short for ( Sain ) t Audrey lace, i.e., neck lace bought at St. Audrey’s Fair in Ely, England; so called after St. Audrey ( Old English Aethelthrȳth, died 679), Northumbrian queen and patron saint of Ely, who, according to tradition, died of a throat tumor which she considered just punishment of her youthful liking for neck laces
Example sentences
“I’d had enough of the whole tawdry business!”
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