garish (adj.)

"showy, dazzling," especially "glaringly vulgar and gaudy," 1540s, of unknown origin, possibly from obsolete Middle English gawren "to stare" (c. 1200), which is of uncertain origin (perhaps from Old Norse gaurr "rough fellow") + -ish. Related: Garishly; garishness.

Entries linking to garish

-ish

adjectival word-forming element, Old English -isc "of the nativity or country of," in later use "of the nature or character of," from Proto-Germanic suffix *-iska- (cognates: Old Saxon -isk, Old Frisian -sk, Old Norse -iskr, Swedish and Danish -sk, Dutch -sch, Old High German -isc, German -isch, Gothic -isks), cognate with Greek diminutive suffix -iskos. In its oldest forms with altered stem vowel (French, Welsh). The Germanic suffix was borrowed into Italian and Spanish (-esco) and French (-esque). Colloquially attached to hours to denote approximation, 1916.

The -ish in verbs (abolish, establish, finish, punish, etc.) is a mere terminal relic from the Old French present participle.

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Definitions of garish

garish (adj.)

tastelessly showy;

garish colors

Synonyms: brassy / cheap / flash / flashy / gaudy / gimcrack / loud / meretricious / tacky / tatty / tawdry / trashy

From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near garish

garfish

gargantuan

gargle

gargoyle

Garibaldi

garish

garland

garlic

garlicky

garment

garner