Gaud

//ɡɔːd// name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A cheap showy trinket

    "an idle gaud"

  2. 2
    cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing wordnet
  3. 3
    trick; jest; sport obsolete
  4. 4
    deceit; fraud; artifice obsolete
Verb
  1. 1
    To bedeck gaudily; to decorate with gauds or showy trinkets or colours; to paint. obsolete

    "Nicely gauded cheeks."

  2. 2
    To sport or keep festival.

    "gauding with his familiars"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative form of Gaur (“ancient Bengali city”). alt-of, alternative

Synonyms

All synonyms
bagatellebanglebanglebaublebeanbedaub

Example

More examples

"But the girl isn't interested in the Palace of Gaudí."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English gaude, gawde (“jest, prank, trick; ornamental bead in a rosary, trinket, bauble”). Compare Middle English gaudy, gaudee, of the same meaning.

Etymology 2

Compare French gaudir (“to rejoice”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.