What does Tinsel mean?

Definitions for Tinsel
ˈtɪn səltin·sel

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Tinsel.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. tinselnoun

    a showy decoration that is basically valueless

    "all the tinsel of self-promotion"

  2. tinselverb

    a thread with glittering metal foil attached

  3. tinselverb

    impart a cheap brightness to

    "his tinseled image of Hollywood"

  4. tinselverb

    adorn with tinsel

    "snow flakes tinseled the trees"

  5. tinselverb

    interweave with tinsel

    "tinseled velvet"

Wiktionary

  1. tinselnoun

    A shining material used for ornamental purposes; especially, a very thin, gauzelike cloth with much gold or silver woven into it; also, very thin metal overlaid with a thin coating of gold or silver, brass foil, or the like.

  2. tinselnoun

    Very thin strips of a glittering, metallic material used as a decoration, and traditionally, draped at Christmas time over streamers, paper chains and the branches of Christmas trees.

  3. tinselnoun

    Anything shining and gaudy; something superficially shining and showy, or having a false luster, and more gay than valuable.

  4. tinselverb

    To adorn with tinsel; to deck out with cheap but showy ornaments; to make gaudy.

  5. tinselverb

    To give a false sparkle to (something).

  6. tinseladjective

    Glittering, later especially superficially so; gaudy, showy.

  7. Etymology: étincelle (“spark”), from estincelle, from scintilla; compare scintillate, stencil.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Tinselnoun

    Etymology: etincelle, Fr.

    A tinsel vail her amber locks did shrowd,
    That strove to cover what it could not hide. Edward Fairfax.

    Its but a night-gown in respect of your’s; cloth of gold and cuts, underborne with a bluish tinsel. William Shakespeare.

    By Thetis’ tinsel slipper’d feet,
    And the songs of sirens sweet. John Milton.

    For favours cheap and common who would strive;
    Yet scatter’d here and there I some behold,
    Who can discern the tinsel from the gold? Dryden.

    If the man will too curiously examine the superficial tinsel good, he undeceives himself to his own cost. John Norris.

    No glittering tinsel of May fair,
    Could with this rod of Sid compare. Jonathan Swift.

    Ye tinsel insects, whom a court maintains,
    That counts your beauties only by your stains,
    Spin all your cobwebs o’er the eyes of day,
    The muse’s wing shall brush you all away. Alexander Pope.

  2. To Tinselverb

    To decorate with cheap ornaments; to adorn with lustre that has no value.

    Etymology: from the noun.

    Hence you phantastick postillers in song,
    My text defeats your art, ’tis nature’s tongue,
    Scorns all her tinsoil’d metaphors of pelf,
    Illustrated by nothing but herself. John Cleveland.

    She, tinsell’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 fool’s colours gilds them all. Alexander Pope.

Wikipedia

  1. Tinsel

    Tinsel is a type of decorative material that mimics the effect of ice, consisting of thin strips of sparkling material attached to a thread. When in long narrow strips not attached to thread, it is called "lametta", and emulates icicles. It was originally a metallic garland for Christmas decoration. The modern production of tinsel typically involves plastic, and is used particularly to decorate Christmas trees. It may be hung from ceilings or wrapped around statues, lampposts, and so on. Modern tinsel was invented in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1610, and was originally made of shredded silver. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the word is from the Old French word estincele, meaning "sparkle".

ChatGPT

  1. tinsel

    Tinsel is a type of decorative material that mimics the effect of ice or light sparkling. It is often used to decorate Christmas trees or other festive decorations, and commonly available in the form of narrow strips of shiny metallic film. It can be of different colors but is traditionally silver or gold.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Tinselnoun

    a shining material used for ornamental purposes; especially, a very thin, gauzelike cloth with much gold or silver woven into it; also, very thin metal overlaid with a thin coating of gold or silver, brass foil, or the like

  2. Tinselnoun

    something shining and gaudy; something superficially shining and showy, or having a false luster, and more gay than valuable

  3. Tinseladjective

    showy to excess; gaudy; specious; superficial

  4. Tinselverb

    to adorn with tinsel; to deck out with cheap but showy ornaments; to make gaudy

Wikidata

  1. Tinsel

    Tinsel is a sparkling decorative material that mimics the effect of ice or icicles. When in long narrow strips, it emulates icicles. It was originally a metallic garland for Christmas decoration. The modern production of tinsel typically involves plastic, and is used particularly to decorate Christmas trees. It may be hung from ceilings or wrapped around statues, lampposts, and so on. Modern tinsel was invented in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1610, and was originally made of shredded silver. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the word is from the Old French word estincele, meaning “sparkle”.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Tinsel

    tin′sel, n. something sparkling or shining: glittering metallic sheets, as of burnished brass, copper, or tin, almost as thin as foil, and used in discs, patches, strips, or threads, for giving clothing, &c., a striking appearance: anything showy, but of little value: anything having a false lustre.—adj. like tinsel: gaudy: superficial.—v.t. to adorn with, or as with, tinsel: to make glittering or gaudy:—pr.p. tin′selling: pa.t. and pa.p. tin′selled.adj. Tin′selly, like tinsel, gaudy, showy.—n. Tin′selry, glittering and tawdry material. [O. Fr. estincelle—L. scintilla, a spark.]

Editors Contribution

  1. Tinseladjective

    TINSEL in this very 'tinsel town' name calling of Hollywood Movies Studios is a very appropriate word. Nothing to do with sparkling 'estincelles' as they try to convince with linguistical oldies. It's a tricky code name for a shagging place, a bangers town - from turkish/pan-asiatic word - cinsel, pronounced as jinsell, or tchinsel, meaning 'sexual', 'coital', 'fucking'. The Turkish Empire that's where the majorty of european & american Dzhevvs, the future directors, scriptwriters & Oscar-distributors came from. You just can't ignore what has been going on in those couching training studios, prototype of Hustler's & Playboy ManSions for Orgies.


    Submitted by 0d on January 31, 2022  

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for Tinsel »

  1. inlets

  2. leints

  3. listen

  4. enlist

  5. silent

How to pronounce Tinsel?

How to say Tinsel in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Tinsel in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Tinsel in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of Tinsel in a Sentence

  1. Oscar Levant:

    Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you will find the real tinsel underneath.

  2. Dan Hess:

    There's a danger to hanging the tinsel too early.

  3. Oscar Levant:

    Behind the phony tinsel of Hollywood lies the real tinsel.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

Tinsel#10000#55663#100000

Translations for Tinsel

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for Tinsel »

Translation

Find a translation for the Tinsel definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Tinsel." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Tinsel>.

Discuss these Tinsel definitions with the community:

1 Comment
  • 0d
    TINSEL in this very 'tinsel town' name calling of Hollywood Movies Studios is a very appropriate word. Nothing to do with sparkling 'estincelles' as they try to convince with linguistical tricks. It's a tricky code name for a shagging place, a bangers town - from turkish/pan-asiatic word - cinsel, pronounced as jinsell, or tchinsel, meaning 'sexual', 'coital', 'f***ing'. The Turkish Empire that's where the majorty of european & american Dzhevvs came from. You just can't ignore what has been going on in those couching training studios, prototype of Hustler's & Playboy ManSions for Orgies.

    My foot! prends ton pied, they were f***ing & also shooting the movies in prop Brothel's Town. The new owners of Hollywood's Major Studios were also convicted pornographic 'photographers back in their Dzevvish european Romanian, German, Polish ghettos among other furry dealers & merchant traders. The theft of the Pathe Gaumont in late 1920-es has been the corner stone of the Weinstein International Motion Pictures Shagging Empire relocated to the New World. A f***ing conveyor of fair blondes was interrupted by the local uprisings in 1940. The White House made a severe warning to stop pimpish practices & female trading inside of the International 'cinematographical' prostitution ring. They moved their brothels & studios elsewhere for the war time only.

    Then in 1953 they restarted 'tinsel business' again. The Congressional Committees couldn't or wouldn't do anything against the masters of the tinsel screen , tainted with sexual scandals & blackmailing compromat on every important figure in the federal agencies they could have corrupted.
     
    LikeReply2 years ago

Are we missing a good definition for Tinsel? Don't keep it to yourself...

Image or illustration of

Tinsel

Credit »

Free, no signup required:

Add to Chrome

Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

Free, no signup required:

Add to Firefox

Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

Quiz

Are you a words master?

»
call in an official matter, such as to attend court
A loom
B efface
C summon
D render

Nearby & related entries:

Alternative searches for Tinsel: