tinsel

[ tin-suhl ]
See synonyms for tinsel on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a glittering metallic substance, as copper or brass, in thin sheets, used in pieces, strips, threads, etc., to produce a sparkling effect cheaply.

  2. a metallic yarn, usually wrapped around a core yarn of silk, rayon, or cotton, for weaving brocade or lamé.

  1. anything showy or attractive with little or no real worth; showy pretense: The actress was tired of the fantasy and tinsel of her life.

  2. Obsolete. a fabric, formerly in use, of silk or wool interwoven with threads of gold, silver, or, later, copper.

adjective
  1. consisting of or containing tinsel.

verb (used with object),tin·seled, tin·sel·ing or (especially British) tin·selled, tin·sel·ling.
  1. to adorn with tinsel.

  2. to adorn with anything glittering.

  1. to make showy or gaudy.

Origin of tinsel

1
First recorded in 1495–1505; by shortening of Middle French estincelle (Old French estincele ) “a spark, flash,” from Vulgar Latin stincilla, unrecorded variant of Latin scintilla; first used attributively in phrases tinsel satin, tinsel cloth;see scintilla

Other words from tinsel

  • tin·sel·like, adjective
  • o·ver·tin·sel, verb (used with object), o·ver·tin·seled, o·ver·tin·sel·ing or (especially British) o·ver·tin·selled, o·ver·tin·sel·ling.
  • un·tin·seled, adjective
  • un·tin·selled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tinsel in a sentence

  • When a plump, two-pound trout refuses to eat a tinseled, feathered fraud, I am not the man to refuse him something more edible.

    Woodcraft and Camping | George Washington Sears (Nessmuk)
  • So Mary was crowned, and was now a queen, hedged about by the tinseled divinity that hedgeth royalty.

  • Yet behind its spangled, tinseled array and restless movement are real traditions.

    The Autobiography of a Clown | Isaac Frederick Marcosson
  • Gently he picked her up, and carried her away, sobbing out his heart over her tinseled dress.

    The Autobiography of a Clown | Isaac Frederick Marcosson
  • When we entered the presence he sat throned, with his tinseled snobs and dandies around him.

British Dictionary definitions for tinsel

tinsel

/ (ˈtɪnsəl) /


noun
  1. a decoration consisting of a piece of string with thin strips of metal foil attached along its length

  2. a yarn or fabric interwoven with strands of glittering thread

  1. anything cheap, showy, and gaudy

verb-sels, -selling or -selled or US -sels, -seling or -seled (tr)
  1. to decorate with or as if with tinsel: snow tinsels the trees

  2. to give a gaudy appearance to

adjective
  1. made of or decorated with tinsel

  2. showily but cheaply attractive; gaudy

Origin of tinsel

1
C16: from Old French estincele a spark, from Latin scintilla; compare stencil

Derived forms of tinsel

  • tinsel-like, adjective
  • tinselly, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012