Words: tawdry [AHED]

ADJECTIVE: Inflected forms: taw·dri·er, taw·dri·est
1. Gaudy and cheap in nature or appearance. See synonyms at gaudy1. 2. Shameful or indecent: tawdry secrets.
NOUN: Cheap and gaudy finery.
ETYMOLOGY: From tawdry lace, lace necktie, alteration of Saint Audrey's lace (sold at the annual Saint Audrey's fair, Ely, England), after Saint Audrey (Saint Etheldreda), queen of Northumbria, who died in 679 of a throat tumor, supposedly because she delighted in fancy necklaces as a young woman.