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.
See Examples For:
Kris pops in a disc of “Camp Miasma’s” tawdry 2008 reboot, which cinematographer Eric Yue makes look as flat as the discounted DVD.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The whole affair was tawdry, shabby, and cheap—designed to pander to downwardly mobile young men who felt angry at the world.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Admittedly, heaping this much flattery onto a tawdry piece of airport fiction adapted into a Sydney Sweeney-starring, big-screen sensation may seem hyperbolic.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026
Soon it came to mean tawdry and second-class goods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
People felt tawdry in the Justice Room when the old soldier had left it, and many eyed the red whips sideways, with a secret dread.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
I’d give that honor to “The Fifth Step,” which in just 10 pages should scare anyone who’s been paying attention to the true crime stories splashed across the screens of this country’s tawdrier news sources.
From Seattle Times ● May 27, 2024
It’s upscale, informative reality TV, even as it tracks with tawdrier shows.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2020
A movie about one of the sadder, tawdrier episodes in the saga could only feed this syndrome.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2018
The sport has also found itself at the center of some of Washington's tawdrier influence scandals in recent years, including those Jack Abramoff junkets to Scotland.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2010
The towns were larger, but they were tawdrier than ever.
From James Fenimore Cooper American Men of Letters by Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury
It’s quite a life, but the script by Stefani Robinson only cherry-picks the tawdriest bits from his Wikipedia entry for this biopic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2023
Some are well-executed and expensive, others the tawdriest of knockoffs.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2022
Though established news organizations may filter out the tawdriest ads, other sites will run them and profit from them.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2016
No organization wants to be a minor player in a major story, thus establishing a crude dynamic in which maximum resources are thrown at even the tawdriest detail.
From Time ● Jul. 26, 2010
"Any plan, Phalanstery or Community, call it what you please, founded on self-government, is based on a sham, the tawdriest of shams."
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 48, October, 1861 by Various
Vocabulary lists containing tawdry
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
For Grilled Cheese Day, Vocab with a Twist
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
