tackiness

Word family

• tacky
  adjectiveB2
• tackily
  adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Tackiness, gaudiness, cheapness, vulgarity, and tastelessness all describe failures of good taste, but each has a different focus. Tackiness is the broadest — it covers anything that looks unstylish, showy, or poorly chosen, from a bright pink sofa to a joke told at the wrong moment. Gaudiness is narrower: it means something is far too bright, flashy, or over-decorated. Cheapness points to low quality or cost being the problem; something can be cheap without being tacky (a simple paper notebook) and vice versa (an expensive gold statue that still looks awful). Vulgarity is stronger, implying crudeness or a lack of class that can feel offensive. Tastelessness overlaps most with tackiness but is often used for more serious failures of judgment, like a rude remark at a funeral. Think of a living room: a plastic flamingo on the lawn is tacky, a neon-orange carpet is gaudy, a sofa that falls apart is cheap, and a rude gesture on the wall is vulgar.

Common collocations

Etymology

Tackiness comes from the adjective tacky combined with the noun-forming suffix -ness. The adjective tacky originally meant 'sticky' in the late 1700s, derived from tack (a small nail or fastener), referring to the clinging, adhesive feel of a surface. The meaning 'cheap and tasteless' appeared in American English during the late 1800s. Its origin is uncertain, but it may come from the idea of something unpleasant that 'sticks' to a person's memory, or from an older Southern US word tackey, referring to a small, poor-quality horse. The two very different modern senses of tackiness — poor taste and slight stickiness — both trace back to the same word tacky.