A Topical Dictionary: Search for tinsel

Dictionary Results For "tinsel" [?]/[OPML]

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English

Etymology

étincelle (“spark”), from estincelle, from scintilla#Latin|scintilla; compare scintillate, stencil

Pronunciation

:Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-ɪnsəl|-ɪnsəl

Noun

A shine|shining material used for ornamental purposes; especially, a very thin, gauzelike cloth with much gold or silver woven into it; also, very thin metal overlaid with a thin coating of gold or silver, brass foil, or the like.
* w:John Dryden|John Dryden:
*: Who can discern the tinsel from the gold?
Very thin strips of a glittering, metallic material used as a decoration, and traditionally, draped at Christmas time over streamers, paper chains and the branches of Christmas trees.
Anything shining and gaudy; something superficially shining and showy, or having a false luster, and more gay than valuable.
* w:William Cowper|William Cowper:
*: O happy peasant! O unhappy bard! His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward.

Adjective

Showy to excess; gaudy; specious; superficial.
* w:John Milton|John Milton:
*: Tinsel trappings.

Verb

{{en-verb|tinsels|tinselling (UK) or tinseling (US)|tinselled (UK) or tinseled (US)}}

To adorn with tinsel; to deck out with cheap but showy ornaments; to make gaudy.
* w:Alexander Pope|Alexander Pope:
*: She, tinseled o'er in robes of varying hues.
In the Context of To give something a false sparkle.

Derived terms

References

Webster 1913

fa:tinsel io:tinsel fi:tinsel ta:tinsel te:tinsel vi:tinsel tr:tinsel

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English Tinsel \Tin"sel\, a.
Showy to excess; gaudy; specious; superficial. "Tinsel
trappings." --Milton.
[1913 Webster]

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English Tinsel \Tin"sel\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tinseledor Tinselled;
p. pr. & vb. n. Tinseling or Tinselling.]
To adorn with tinsel; to deck out with cheap but showy
ornaments; to make gaudy.
[1913 Webster]

She, tinseled o'er in robes of varying hues. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English Tinsel \Tin"sel\, n. [F. ['e]tincelle a spark, OF. estincelle,
L. scintilla. Cf. Scintillate, Stencil.]
1. A shining material used for ornamental purposes;
especially, a very thin, gauzelike cloth with much gold or
silver woven into it; also, very thin metal overlaid with
a thin coating of gold or silver, brass foil, or the like.
[1913 Webster]

Who can discern the tinsel from the gold? --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]

2. Something shining and gaudy; something superficially
shining and showy, or having a false luster, and more gay
than valuable.
[1913 Webster]

O happy peasant! O unhappy bard!
His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward. --Cowper.
[1913 Webster]

WordNet tinsel
n 1: a showy decoration that is basically valueless; "all the
tinsel of self-promotion"
2: a thread with glittering metal foil attached
v 1: impart a cheap brightness to; "his tinseled image of
Hollywood"
2: adorn with tinsel; "snow flakes tinseled the trees"
3: interweave with tinsel; "tinseled velvet"
[also: tinselling, tinselled]

Moby Dictionary
affected , apocryphal , apparent , artificial , assumed , bastard , bead ,
bejewel , beribbon , bespangle , blatant , blink , blinking , bogus ,
bravery , brazen , brummagem , cheat , chiffon , chintzy , clinquant ,
colorable , colored , coruscate , coruscation , counterfeit ,
counterfeited , diamond , distorted , dressed up , dummy , embellished ,
embroidered , engrave , ersatz , factitious , fake , faked , fakement ,
falsified , feather , feigned , festoons , fictitious , fictive , figure ,
filigree , finery , firefly , flag , flashy , flounce , flower , folderol ,
foofaraw , forgery , frame-up , fraud , frilliness , frilling , frills ,
frills and furbelows , frippery , froufrou , fuss , gaiety , garbled ,
garish , garland , gaudery , gem , gilded , gilding , gilt , gingerbread ,
glaring , glimmer , glimmering , glisk , glisten , glister , glitter ,
glittering , glowworm , hoax , illegitimate , illuminate , imitation ,
impostor , jewel , junk , junky , loud , make-believe , man-made ,
meretricious , mock , ostensible , paint , paste , perverted , phony ,
pinchbeck , plausible , plume , pretended , pseudo , put-on , put-up job ,
quasi , queer , ribbon , rip-off , scintilla , scintillate ,
scintillation , seeming , self-styled , sham , shimmer , shimmering ,
shoddy , simulacrum , simulated , so-called , soi-disant , spangle ,
spark , sparkle , specious , spurious , stroboscopic light ,
superfluity , supposititious , swindle , synthetic , tawdry , tin ,
titivated , trappings , trickery , trumpery , twinkle , twinkling ,
twisted , unauthentic , ungenuine , unnatural , unreal , warped ,
whited sepulcher , wreathe