tawdry

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.

When the New Deal put a cop on the Wall Street beat, Dillon cleaned up his act and lived long enough to outlast the memory of his tawdry methods.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

He called that meeting "the most vomit-inducing episode in all the tawdry history of international diplomacy".

From BBC • Aug. 18, 2025

Instead of a fixation on the tawdry side of life, you see works that explore the things that bind all people together: family, love, politics, complex emotions and sensual memories.

From Salon • Aug. 13, 2024

Their tawdry example plainly demands systemic responses: enforceable recusal standards for the Supreme Court, laws regulating receipt of outside income by judges, and perhaps more.

From Slate • Jul. 15, 2024

The molting pink feathers are tawdry as carnival dolls and some of the starry sequins have come off.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood