tacky

tacky

Cheap, crude, and unrefined; indicating or characteristic of a lack of class, elegance, or sophistication. He showed up in a really tacky suit. Their food is actually really good, I just think their decorations are a bit tacky.

ticky-tacky

1. noun Any cheap, shoddy material, especially used in construction. Judging from how little soundproofing there is in this building, I'd say they made the walls out of ticky-tacky.

2. adjective Consisting of or constructed from such cheap or shoddy materials. The company threw up a couple ticky-tacky bungalows so the crew could live on-site until the work was finished.

3. adjective Mediocre or unimaginative in design, appearance, or style. They've been building row after row of ticky-tacky houses about 20 minutes from the city off the interstate. They're so cookie-cutter in design that they're actually a little depressing to look at.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

tacky

1. mod. cheap; crude. That was a tacky thing to do to her.

2. mod. alcohol intoxicated. Tom was a little tacky, so he gave me his car keys.

ticky-tacky

(ˈtɪkitæki)

n. cheap and shabby material. Those houses are just made of ticky-tacky, and they won’t even be here in twenty years.

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.