tinsel
a glittering metallic substance, as copper or brass, in thin sheets, used in pieces, strips, threads, etc., to produce a sparkling effect cheaply.
a metallic yarn, usually wrapped around a core yarn of silk, rayon, or cotton, for weaving brocade or lamé.
anything showy or attractive with little or no real worth; showy pretense: The actress was tired of the fantasy and tinsel of her life.
Obsolete. a fabric, formerly in use, of silk or wool interwoven with threads of gold, silver, or, later, copper.
to adorn with tinsel.
to adorn with anything glittering.
to make showy or gaudy.
Origin of tinsel
1Other 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.
When Knighthood Was in Flower | Charles MajorYet behind its spangled, tinseled array and restless movement are real traditions.
The Autobiography of a Clown | Isaac Frederick MarcossonGently he picked her up, and carried her away, sobbing out his heart over her tinseled dress.
The Autobiography of a Clown | Isaac Frederick MarcossonWhen we entered the presence he sat throned, with his tinseled snobs and dandies around him.
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc | Mark Twain
British Dictionary definitions for tinsel
/ (ˈtɪnsəl) /
a decoration consisting of a piece of string with thin strips of metal foil attached along its length
a yarn or fabric interwoven with strands of glittering thread
anything cheap, showy, and gaudy
to decorate with or as if with tinsel: snow tinsels the trees
to give a gaudy appearance to
made of or decorated with tinsel
showily but cheaply attractive; gaudy
Origin of tinsel
1Derived 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
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