From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
garish
adj : tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish
colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a
meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments"
[syn: brassy, cheap, flash, flashy, gaudy,
gimcrack, loud, meretricious, tacky, tatty,
tawdry, trashy]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Garish \Gar"ish\ (g[^a]r"[i^]sh), a. [Cf. OE. gauren to stare;
of uncertain origin. Cf. gairish.]
1. Showy; dazzling; ostentatious; attracting or exciting
attention. "The garish sun." "A garish flag." --Shak. "In
. . . garish colors." --Asham. "The garish day." --J. H.
Newman.
[1913 Webster]
Garish like the laughters of drunkenness. --Jer.
Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
2. Gay to extravagance; flighty.
[1913 Webster]
It makes the mind loose and garish. --South.
-- Gar"ish*ly, adv. -- Gar"ish*ness, n. --Jer. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]