What does "tinsel" mean?
A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.; A silk or wool fabric with gold or silver thread woven into it; brocade.
Tinsel
/ˈtɪns(ə)l/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.; A silk or wool fabric with gold or silver thread woven into it; brocade.
- Grammar: tinsel is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: adorn, affected, apocryphal, apparent.
- Useful contrasts: bare, dullness, genuineness.
- Usage evidence: High on the summit of the Tree was fixed a tinsel star. It was splendid, particularly splendid.
How to use "tinsel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tinsel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
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- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tinsel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tinsel" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tinsel" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.; A silk or wool fabric with gold or silver thread woven into it; brocade. obsolete, uncountable, usually
"Firſt, the hethermoſt, in the changeable blew, and greene robe, is the commendably-faſhioned gallant, Evcosmos; […] The fourth, in watchet tinſell, is the kind, and truly benefique, Evcolos."
- 2 Damage, detriment; loss. Scotland, obsolete, transitive, uncountable
- 3 a thread with glittering metal foil attached wordnet
- 4 A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.; A very thin, gauzelike cloth with gold or silver (or, later, copper) thread woven into it, or overlaid with thin metal plates. obsolete, uncountable, usually
"I know in that more ſubtil Air of yours Tinſel ſometimes paſſes for Tiſſue, Venice Beads for Pearl, and Demicaſters for Bevers; But I know you have ſo diſcerning a Judgment, that you will not ſuffer your ſelf to be ſo cheated, […]"
- 5 Deprivation; forfeiture. Scotland, archaic, transitive, uncountable
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 a showy decoration that is basically valueless wordnet
- 7 A thin, shiny foil for ornamental purposes which is of a material made of metal or resembling metal; especially, narrow glittering strips of such a material, often strung on to thread, and traditionally at Christmastime draped on Christmas trees, hung from balustrades or ceilings, or wrapped around objects as a decoration. broadly, uncountable, usually
"O! it is divine and moſt admirable, and ſo farre beyond all that ever he publiſhed heretofore, as day-light beyond candle-light, or tinſell or leafe-gold above arſedine; […]"
- 8 Anything shining and gaudy; especially something superficially shiny and showy, or having a false lustre, and more pretty than valuable. broadly, figuratively, uncountable, usually
"Her garments all were wrought of beaten gold, / And all her ſteed with tinſell trappings ſhone, / Which fledd ſo faſt, that nothing mote him hold, / And ſcarſe them leaſure gaue, her paſſing to behold."
Verb
- 1 To adorn (something) with tinsel.; To ornament (fabric, etc.) by weaving into it thread of gold, silver, or some other shiny material. also, figuratively, transitive
"Hir daintie lims tinſill hir ſilke ſoft ſheets, / Hir roſe-crownd cheekes eclipſe my dazeled ſight, […]"
- 2 To cause (someone) damage or loss; also, to impose a fine on (someone); to mulct. Scotland, obsolete, rare, transitive
- 3 interweave with tinsel wordnet
- 4 To adorn (something) with tinsel.; To deck out (a place or something) with showy but cheap ornaments; to make gaudy. broadly, transitive
"She, tinſel'd o'er in robes of varying hues, / With ſelf-applauſe her wild creation views, / Sees momentary monſters riſe and fall, / And with her own fools-colours gilds them all."
- 5 adorn with tinsel wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To give (something) a false or superficial attractiveness. figuratively, transitive
"I could tell them vague tales of their poetry, and cruel wars: but it seemed distant and tinselled an age."
- 7 impart a cheap brightness to wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Of fabric: ornamented by being woven with gold or silver thread, or overlaid with thin metal plates; brocaded. not-comparable, obsolete
"Liſten and appeare to us / In the name of great Oceanus, / […] / By Leucothea’s lovely hands, / And her ſon that rules the ſtrands, / By Thetis tinſel-ſlipper’d feet; […]"
- 2 Glittering. broadly, not-comparable, obsolete
"Baſes and tinſel Trappings, gorgious Knights / At Jouſt and Touneament; then marſhal'd Feaſt / Serv'd up in Hall with Sewers, and Seneſhals; […]"
- 3 Apparently beautiful and costly but having little value; superficially attractive; gaudy, showy, tawdry. broadly, figuratively, not-comparable
"Went to that magnificent Temple of Thalia, the New Olympic, and saw the bewitchingest Pauline, in the person of Winifred Emery, that ever I saw in the shammiest, stagiest, tawdriest, tinsellest, transparentest, most diaphanously theatrical comedy I ever saw in the absolute period of my Thespian existence."
Antonyms
Example
"High on the summit of the Tree was fixed a tinsel star. It was splendid, particularly splendid."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tinsel"?
Common synonyms include: adorn, affected, apocryphal, apparent, artificial, assumed.
How do you use "tinsel" in a sentence?
High on the summit of the Tree was fixed a tinsel star. It was splendid, particularly splendid.
How do you pronounce "tinsel"?
Pronounced /ˈtɪns(ə)l/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
The noun is derived from Middle English tinsel (“cloth containing gold or silver thread”) [and other forms], probably from Anglo-Norman tincel, tincelle, tencele, and then: * from Old French estincelle, estencele (“a spark”) (modern French étincelle), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, a metathesis of Latin scintilla (“a glimmer; a spark”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₁y- (“to shimmer, shine”); and * from Old French estincelé, the past participle of estinceler, estenceler (“to produce sparks”) (modern French étinceler (“to sparkle, twinkle; (archaic) to produce sparks”)), from Vulgar Latin *stincillāre, a metathesis of Latin scintillāre, the present active infinitive of scintillō (“to scintillate, sparkle”), from scintilla (“a glimmer; a spark”) (see above) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). The English word is a doublet of scintilla, scintillate, and stencil. The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun; while the verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology 2
The noun is derived from Middle English tinsel (“destruction, loss; damnation, spiritual loss; state of damnation”) [and other forms], probably from Old Norse *týnsla (modern Norwegian tynsla (“damage, destruction”)), from týna (“to destroy; to lose; to perish”) (whence Middle English tinen (“to be deprived of, lose; to fail to maintain; to forfeit; to lose track of; to mislay; to be separated from; to escape; to be defeated or forced to withdraw; to waste; to consume, use up; to be destroyed, perish; to damn; to remove, take”)) + -sla (suffix forming nouns from verbs, either denoting the action of the verb or the medium or product of the action). Týna is derived from tjón (“damage; loss”), from Proto-Germanic *teuną (“damage; destruction, ruin; lack”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *duH- (“to torment, vex”) or *deh₂w- (“to burn”). The verb is derived from the noun.