Flashy

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈflæʃi/

Definitions

1. Attracting attention through bright colors, bold style, or showy appearance that some may consider excessive or ostentatious
2. Characterized by flamboyant styles and vivid colors that seek to capture attention, often perceived as ostentatious and excessive in nature
3. Having a strikingly bright or extravagant appearance that is likely to draw notice from others

Etymology: "Flashy" is a plain formation: the noun "flash" with the suffix "-y", which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "having the quality of" that noun. Its base, "flash", was already in English by the Middle Ages, when it meant a sudden burst of light or a brief show, and that sense of something bright and momentary carries straight into the adjective. The suffix has been doing this job for centuries. The same ending gives us "dusty", "leafy" and "sunny", all built on nouns and all describing something that has a lot of the noun about it. A flashy thing is one that is full of flash: bright, showy and built to catch the eye rather than to last.

Synonyms: showy, gaudy, ostentatious

Antonyms: understated, subtle