tinselled, ppl. a.
(ˈtɪnsəld)
Also 6–7 tinceld.
[In sense 1, app. representing F. étincelé: see tinsel n.3; in sense 2, mostly f. tinsel v.2 + -ed1.]
1. Made to sparkle or glitter with gold or silver thread, brocade, or embroidery. b. Embellished with gold or silver leaf.
| 1532–3 Act 24 Hen. VIII, c. 13 No Man, vnder the State of an Erle [shall]..weare..any Clothe of Golde or Syluer, or tynseld Saten. 1545 Rates of Customs c iv b, Satten tynseld with gold the yarde xiii. s. iiii. d... Satten of bruges counterfete tynselde the yarde iii. s. iiii. d. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 146 Their out Garment or Vest..of cloth of gold and Tinselled. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. lvi. 244 Figured sattin tinselled and overcast with golden threads. 1748 Richardson Clarissa VI. 3 Tinselled hobby-horses, gilt gingerbread. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. v. (1856) 40 Some of these huts were garnished with little tinseled pictures. 1871 Rossetti Last Confession 387 Before some new Madonna gaily decked, Tinselled and gewgawed, a slight German toy, I saw her kneel. |
2. transf. and fig.; in later use often depreciative or contemptuous (cf. b).
| c 1620 Convert Soule in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1847) 89 Then dream of shadowes, make thy coate Of tinsel'd cobwebs. 1648 Earl of Westmoreland Otia Sacra (1879) 6 As the Tincell'd Night gives way At th' opening o' th' true Golden Day. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 521/2 Observe the Gentleman in that gaudy slight French Dress, how he is tinsel'd and pouder'd over. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 180 Tinselled toy! said I (for he was laced all over). a 1774 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 126 Clouds..whose tinselled edges glitter in the western sun. |
b. fig. Having a flashy superficial splendour without intrinsic value.
| 1651 Cleveland Poems 4 His tinsil'd metaphors of pelf. 1820 Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 144 Beaumont and Fletcher..laid the foundation of the artificial diction and tinselled pomp of the next generation. |