garish

Etymology

Its origin is unknown according to several dictionaries.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Because of the early spellings “gaurish” and “gawrish”, the OED suggests that it is formed from English gaure (“to stare”) + -ish,^{[7][8][9][10][11]} from the obsolete verb gauren (“to stare, gaze”),^[12][6][13] and compares garing-stock (“a gazing-stock”).^[7][9] The OED itself adds that -ish is rarely added to verb stems, and that no certain case may exist as early as the 16th century,^[7] which Barnhart says casts considerable doubt on the derivation.^[13] The verb is usually traced to Old Norse, comparing Old Norse gaurr (“rough fellow”) and dialectal Norwegian gagra (“to stare”),^[12][13][11] though Etymonline calls its origin uncertain.^[6] Weekley thought it perhaps cognate with gaze.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of dress or ornament, obtrusively bright and showy: 1545, in T. Raynald's translation of E. Roesslin's Byrth of Mankynde,^[7][3] which Barnhart prints as garishe.^[13]

Semantic evolution

If the verb "to stare" lies behind it, a garish thing would be one that stares at the viewer: Weekley compares the phrase staring colour.^[10] The word spread from dress to colour, in Ascham's Scholemaster (before 1568),^[7] to anything decorated to excess, in Turberville (1587),^[7] and to light, including daylight and the sun, in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1599).^[7] For about half a century, 1650–94, starting with Bishop J. Taylor, it could mean lacking in self-restraint, flighty,^[7] and in 1590 R. Harvey used it as an adverb.^[7] In Lancashire dialect it survived with the meaning "wild, foolishly gay".^[14]

Timeline

• 1545 – of dress or ornament, showy, gaudy.^[7][13]
• before 1568 – of colour, excessively bright.^[7]
• 1587 – adorned to excess.^[7]
• 1590 – as an adverb, garishly (obsolete).^[7]
• 1599 – of light, glaring.^[7]
• 1650 – flighty, lacking in self-restraint (obsolete by 1694).^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Bright or colourful in a crude, vulgar way; gaudy: a garish orange waistcoat.^[15][3][7]
2. Of colour or light, excessively bright; glaring: the garish light of the station platform.^[7][5][3]
3. Decorated to excess; tastelessly flamboyant.^[7][3][5]

Word family

• garishly
• garishness

Usage notes

Separately, the OED lists an obsolete adjective garish, known only from 1691,^[7] and Wright records it from Ray (1691) in south-eastern England as a noun for someone who looks frightened and so heeds nothing.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
10. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
13. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
14. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins