garish

English

Etymology

Unknown, possibly from obsolete Middle English gawren (“to stare”) which is of uncertain origin, probably from Old Norse gá (“to watch, heed”) or gaurr (“rough fellow”) (Proto-Indo-European *gʰow-rós, from *gʰew- (“to be angry”)).^[1][2] Compare with English gaw.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɛəɹɪʃ/

• Audio (US):

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Adjective

garish (comparative more garish, superlative most garish)

1. Overly ostentatious; so colourful as to be in bad taste. [from 1540s]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:gaudy

   The dress fits her well, but the pattern is rather garish.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects; […]."

   • 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:

     On the other hand, to arrive after dusk, when the multitude of garish little public-houses are lit up, giving glimpses of crowded jostling bars and taprooms, is an introduction to a fine city well calculated to affect even the most nonchalant.

   • 2003 August 10, Ken Keeler, “The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings”, in Futurama, season 5, episode 16 (television production), Fox Broadcasting Company:

     Leela: He gave me mechanical ears / Effective though just a bit garish.

   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 57:

     She also said that Thameslink trains were deliberately garish, so as to lure drivers stuck on the M1, which runs alongside the line around Radlett.

Derived terms

• garishly
• garishness

Translations

overly ostentatious; so colourful as to be in bad taste

Bulgarian: ярък (bg) (jarǎk), крещящ (bg) (kreštjašt), показен (bg) (pokazen) Dutch: wansmakelijk (nl), schreeuwlelijk (nl) Finnish: räikeä (fi) French: criard (fr), tape-à-l’œil (fr), voyant (fr) m Georgian: მყვირალა (mq̇virala), თვალშისაცემი (tvalšisacemi) German: grell (de), protzig (de), auffallend (de), aufdringlich (de), knallig, knallbunt, schreiend bunt Greek: χτυπητός (el) (chtypitós), φανταχτερός (el) (fantachterós), κακόγουστος (el) m (kakógoustos) Hindi: भड़कीला (hi) (bhaṛkīlā), भड़कदार (hi) (bhaṛakdār), शोख़ (śox), चटकीला (hi) (caṭkīlā) Hungarian: feltűnő (hu), rikító (hu), ízléstelen (hu), hivalkodó (hu), csicsás (hu) Irish: scéiniúil Italian: pacchiano (it), appariscente (it), vistoso (it) m, chiassoso (it) m, sgargiante (it) Macedonian: јарк (jark), дре́члив (dréčliv) Polish: jaskrawy (pl) m, krzykliwy (pl) m Portuguese: garrido (pt) m Romanian: bătător la ochi, ţipător (ro), strident (ro) Russian: крича́щий (ru) (kričáščij), показно́й (ru) (pokaznój) Spanish: gárrido, chillón (es), vistoso (es), colorinche (es) (Lat. Am.), charro (es), estrambótico (es), estrafalario (es), hortera (es) (Spain) Swedish: gräll (sv), skrikig (sv) Turkish: cafcaflı (tr)

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “garish”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European world, Oxford University Press

Anagrams

• Harigs, girahs, girsha