Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Gaudy \Gaud"y\, a. [Compar. {Gaudier}; superl. {Gauidiest}.]
   1. Ostentatiously fine; showy; gay, but tawdry or
      meretricious.

            Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not
            expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy.  --Shak.

   2. Gay; merry; festal. --Tennyson.

            Let's have one other gaudy night.     --Shak.

Gaudy \Gaud"y\, n.; pl. {Gaudies} [See {Gaud}, n.]
   One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster
   is recited. [Obs.] --Gower.

Gaudy \Gaud"y\, n.
   A feast or festival; -- called also {gaud-day} and {gaudy
   day}. [Oxford Univ.] --Conybeare.

Source : WordNet®

gaudy
     adj 1: tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish
            colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a
            meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments"
            [syn: {brassy}, {cheap}, {flash}, {flashy}, {garish},
            {gimcrack}, {loud}, {meretricious}, {tacky}, {tatty},
            {tawdry}, {trashy}]
     2: (used especially of clothes) marked by conspicuous display
        [syn: {flashy}, {jazzy}, {showy}, {sporty}]
     n : a celebratory feast held annually at one of the colleges in
         a British university
     [also: {gaudiest}, {gaudier}]