gaudy: [16] Middle English had a colour term gaudy-green ‘yellowish-green’, which originally denoted ‘green produced by dye obtained from the plant dyer’s rocket, Reseda luteola’, a plant formerly known as weld [14]. The word weld came from a Germanic source which, borrowed into Old French, produced gaude – whence English gaudy-green. It has been claimed that this gaudy soon lost its literal meaning ‘produced from weld-dye’, and came to be interpreted as ‘bright’.
Other etymologists, however, favour the explanation that gaudy comes from gaud ‘joke, plaything’ [14], which was adapted from Old French gaudir ‘rejoice’, a descendant of Latin gaudēre ‘delight in’ (from which English gets joy).
gaudy (adj.)
"showy, tastelessly rich," c. 1600; earlier "joyfully festive" (1580s), probably a re-adjectivizing of gaudy (n.) "large, ornamental bead in a rosary" (early 14c.) via the noun gaud + -y (2.). In early Modern English it also could mean "full of trickery" (1520s).
Or possibly the adjective is from or influenced by Middle English noun gaudegrene (early 14c.), name of a yellowish-green color or pigment, originally of dye obtained from the weld plant (see weld (n.1)). This Germanic plant-name became gaude in Old French, and thus the Middle English word. Under this theory, the sense shifted from "weld-dye" to "bright ornamentation."
As a noun, "feast, festival" 1650s, from gaudy day "day of rejoicing" (1560s).
双语例句
1. She was tricked out in gaudy dress.
她穿得华丽而俗气.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. Gone are the support suspenders and gaudy steel rings that strangled the tower for much of the last decade.
过去十几年间斜塔四周起支撑作用的吊杆和绕在塔身上的华而不实的钢圈现已荡然无存.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. His only peculiarity , was a habit of wearing impossibly gaudy neckties.
他唯一的怪癖就是佩带俗得令人不敢置信的领带.
来自辞典例句
4. The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.
