tinsel
Part of speech: noun
adj
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English tinsel (“cloth containing gold or silver thread”) [and other forms], probably from Anglo-Norman tincel, tincelle, tencele, and then:
* from Old French estincelle, estencele (“a spark”) (modern French étincelle), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, a metathesis of Latin scintilla (“a glimmer; a spark”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₁y- (“to shimmer, shine”); and
* from Old French estincelé, the past participle of estinceler, estenceler (“to produce sparks”) (modern French étinceler (“to sparkle, twinkle; (archaic) to produce sparks”)), from Vulgar Latin *stincillāre, a metathesis of Latin scintillāre, the present active infinitive of scintillō (“to scintillate, sparkle”), from scintilla (“a glimmer; a spark”) (see above) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).
The English word is a doublet of scintilla, scintillate, and stencil.
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun; while the verb is derived from the noun.
Inflected forms:
form: tinsels
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: tinsels
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: tinseling
pos: verb
tags: US
participle
present
form: tinselling
pos: verb
tags: UK
participle
present
form: tinseled
pos: verb
tags: US
participle
past
form: tinseled
pos: verb
tags: US
past
form: tinselled
pos: verb
tags: UK
participle
past
form: tinselled
pos: verb
tags: UK
past
Senses:
gloss: A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
usually
examples: Firſt, the hethermoſt, in the changeable blew, and greene robe, is the commendably-faſhioned gallant, Evcosmos; […] The fourth, in watchet tinſell, is the kind, and truly benefique, Evcolos.
gloss: A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
usually
examples: I know in that more ſubtil Air of yours Tinſel ſometimes paſſes for Tiſſue, Venice Beads for Pearl, and Demicaſters for Bevers; But I know you have ſo diſcerning a Judgment, that you will not ſuffer your ſelf to be ſo cheated, […]
gloss: A thin, shiny foil for ornamental purposes which is of a material made of metal or resembling metal; especially, narrow glittering strips of such a material, often strung on to thread, and traditionally at Christmastime draped on Christmas trees, hung from balustrades or ceilings, or wrapped around objects as a decoration.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
uncountable
usually
examples: O! it is divine and moſt admirable, and ſo farre beyond all that ever he publiſhed heretofore, as day-light beyond candle-light, or tinſell or leafe-gold above arſedine; […]
A tawdry scarf of yellow silk, trimmed with tinsel and spangles, which had seen as hard service, and boasted as honourable a transmission, was next flung over one shoulder, and fell across her person in the manner of a shoulder-belt or baldrick.
He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him not so much of the aerial photographs of today but rather of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the design.
gloss: Anything shining and gaudy; especially something superficially shiny and showy, or having a false lustre, and more pretty than valuable.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
figuratively
uncountable
usually
examples: Her garments all were wrought of beaten gold, / And all her ſteed with tinſell trappings ſhone, / Which fledd ſo faſt, that nothing mote him hold, / And ſcarſe them leaſure gaue, her paſſing to behold.
Yet ſcatter'd here and there I ſome behold, / Who can diſcern the Tinſel from the Gold: […]
O happy peaſant! O unhappy bard! / His the mere tinſel, her's the rich reward; / He prais'd perhaps for ages yet to come, / She never heard of half a mile from home; / He loſt in errors his vain heart prefers, / She ſafe in the ſimplicity of hers.
[T]hey have been the delusive prologue to an age worse than that of iron—the age of tinsel and gossamer, in which no thought has substance enough to be moulded into consistent and lasting form.
gloss: Of fabric: ornamented by being woven with gold or silver thread, or overlaid with thin metal plates; brocaded.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
obsolete
examples: Liſten and appeare to us / In the name of great Oceanus, / […] / By Leucothea’s lovely hands, / And her ſon that rules the ſtrands, / By Thetis tinſel-ſlipper’d feet; […]
gloss: Glittering.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
not-comparable
obsolete
examples: Baſes and tinſel Trappings, gorgious Knights / At Jouſt and Touneament; then marſhal'd Feaſt / Serv'd up in Hall with Sewers, and Seneſhals; […]
gloss: Apparently beautiful and costly but having little value; superficially attractive; gaudy, showy, tawdry.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
figuratively
not-comparable
examples: Went to that magnificent Temple of Thalia, the New Olympic, and saw the bewitchingest Pauline, in the person of Winifred Emery, that ever I saw in the shammiest, stagiest, tawdriest, tinsellest, transparentest, most diaphanously theatrical comedy I ever saw in the absolute period of my Thespian existence.
Sensing plenty of room for such displays of conspicuous consumption, no less than three other knockoffs—The Good Life ("the most luxurious half-hour on television"), The Robb Report (a spinoff of the ultra high-end auto magazine), and Eye on Hollywood (the tinselest side of Tinseltown)—were soon on the air, each also a tour de force of hedonism and exhibition.
gloss: To adorn (something) with tinsel.
pos: verb
tags: also
figuratively
transitive
examples: Hir daintie lims tinſill hir ſilke ſoft ſheets, / Hir roſe-crownd cheekes eclipſe my dazeled ſight, […]
And all the ſhrubs, vvith ſparkling ſpangles, ſhevv / Like Morning-Sun-ſhine tinsilling the devv.
gloss: To adorn (something) with tinsel.
pos: verb
tags: broadly
transitive
examples: She, tinſel'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 fools-colours gilds them all.
[…] and yokels looking up at the tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while the light-fingered folk are operating upon their pockets behind.
gloss: To give (something) a false or superficial attractiveness.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: I could tell them vague tales of their poetry, and cruel wars: but it seemed distant and tinselled an age.
Related words: trimmings
trim up
Derived words: tinsellike
tinsel lily
tinselly
tinsel print
tinselry
Tinseltown
tinsel wire
tinseled
tinselled
tinseling
tinselling
Translations: