adjective
Related Words
See gaudy 1.
Other Word Forms
- garishly adverb
- garishness noun
Etymology
Origin of garish
1535–45; earlier gaurish, perhaps equivalent to obsolete gaure “to stare” ( Middle English gauren, from Old Norse ) + -ish 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dozens of stores selling fireworks resembling flamethrowers and packaged in garish boxes saw little foot traffic on a weekday morning.
From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026
Watching the show felt like thumbing through TikTok, assaulted by walls of sound, garish ads and the occasional familiar face.
From Salon • Jan. 13, 2026
Now Britons are growing exasperated with a decorator whose tastes run to the intellectual equivalent of avocado-colored appliances and garish shag carpeting.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
Despite some impressively garish trousers, YouTuber George Clarke hit a bum note with his Jive to Harry Styles' As It Was.
From BBC • Oct. 31, 2025
It was night time when we returned, however, and the place was garish in colored lights.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
