Gaudy, a. [Compar. Gaudier; superl. Gauidiest.]
1. Ostentatiously fine; showy; gay, but tawdry or meretricious. Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy. Shak.
2. Gay; merry; festal. Tennyson. Let's have one other gaudy night. Shak.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Gaudy, n.; pl. Gaudies
One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited. [Obs.] Gower.
Gaudy, n.
A feast or festival; -- called also gaud-day and gaudy day. [Oxford Univ.] Conybeare.
Shades of meaning
Fernald lists gaudy only as an antonym, under tasteful.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.
Synonyms
none given