Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
showy [shoh-ee] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for showy on Thesaurus.com adjective, show·i·er, show·i·est.
- making an imposing display: showy flowers.
- pompous; ostentatious; gaudy.
Origin of showy First recorded in 1705–15; show + -y1 Related formsun·show·y, adjectiveSynonyms for showy See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com 2. loud. See gaudy1, grandiose.Antonyms for showy 2. humble. Related Words for showy garish, splashy, ostentatious, gaudy, ornate, pretentious, classy, sensational, dashing, flash, glaring, histrionic, jazzy, loud, luxurious, meretricious, opulent, overdone, overwrought, pompous Examples from the Web for showy Contemporary Examples of showy
But that category is full of showy performances, and George is not the showboating role in that play.
A Tony Voter on Bryan Cranston’s Overrated LBJ, Neil Patrick Harris’s Underwhelming Hedwig
Michael Musto
June 4, 2014
The showy accoutrements of state power have replaced the vestments of resistance.
Kosovo’s Frightening Example To Syria
David Frum
August 25, 2012
The category gives actors the chance to do showy, attention-grabbing work, stepping into ready-made characters.
Good Actors, Bad Movies, and the Oscars
Richard Rushfield
November 29, 2011
One pollster said a showy pregnancy could just “annoy people.”
The Strauss-Kahn Conspiracy Firestorm
Tracy McNicoll
May 19, 2011
And yet, many of her sentences struck me as showy, or straining toward cleverness.
Fiction Wrestles With Global Terrorism
Taylor Antrim
February 22, 2010
Historical Examples of showy
Pretty, odd and showy, but by no means as superb a flower as some of the others.
Various
It was a cheap lot, cheap and showy, and it fetched jolly little.
E. Phillips Oppenheim
It was flamboyant and showy; cheap, and tawdrily pretentious.
Rafael Sabatini
Flowers irregular, showy, in large panicles; blooming in June.
Trees of the Northern United States
Austin C. Apgar
Often cultivated for the showy clusters of berries in autumn.
Trees of the Northern United States
Austin C. Apgar
British Dictionary definitions for showy showy adjective showier or showiest
- gaudy, flashy, or ostentatious
- making a brilliant or imposing display
Derived Formsshowily, adverbshowiness, noun Word Origin and History for showy adj.
1712, from show (n.) + -y (2). Related: Showiness; showiness. Originally in a positive sense.