tinsel

Meanings

Plural: tinsels

Noun

a showy decoration that is basically valueless
- "all the tinsel of self-promotion"
a thread with glittering metal foil attached
A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.
A silk or wool fabric with gold or silver thread woven into it; brocade.
A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.
A very thin, gauzelike cloth with gold or silver (or, later, copper) thread woven into it, or overlaid with thin metal plates.
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.
Anything shining and gaudy; especially something superficially shiny and showy, or having a false lustre, and more pretty than valuable.
Damage, detriment; loss.
Deprivation; forfeiture.

Verb

impart a cheap brightness to
- "his tinseled image of Hollywood"
adorn with tinsel
- "snow flakes tinseled the trees"
interweave with tinsel
- "tinseled velvet"
To adorn (something) with tinsel.
To ornament (fabric, etc.) by weaving into it thread of gold, silver, or some other shiny material.
To adorn (something) with tinsel.
To deck out (a place or something) with showy but cheap ornaments; to make gaudy.
To give (something) a false or superficial attractiveness.
To cause (someone) damage or loss; also, to impose a fine on (someone); to mulct.

Adj

Of fabric: ornamented by being woven with gold or silver thread, or overlaid with thin metal plates; brocaded.
Glittering.
Apparently beautiful and costly but having little value; superficially attractive; gaudy, showy, tawdry.

Origin / 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.

Synonyms

baldacchin, endamage

Scrabble Score: 6

tinsel is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
tinsel is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
tinsel is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

tinsel is a valid Words With Friends word