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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

3 entries under this word

Tinsel

Tin'sel, n.

noun

n. [Fr. étincelle, O. Fr. estincelle, a spark, Lat. scintilla.]

Sense 1. A shining material used for ornamental purposes, and consisting either of cloth, or of very thin metal overlaid with a thin coating of gold or silver, brass leaf or foil, and the like.

Who can discern the tinsel from the gold? Dryden.

Sense 2. Something very shining and gaudy; something superficially shining and showy, or having a false luster, and more gay than valuable.

O happy peasant! O unhappy bard! His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward. Cowper.

Sense 3. A kind of ornamental lace.

Tin'sel, a.

adjective

Showy to excess; gaudy; specious; superficial. “Tinsel trappings.” Milton.

Tin'sel, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. TINSELED, or TINSELLED; p. pr. & vb. n. TINSELING, or TINSELLING.] To adorn with tinsel; to deck out with cheap but showy ornaments; to make gaudy. “She, tinseled o’er in robes of varying hues.” Pope.