tinsel

Meaning

Verb

1. (also, figuratively, transitive) To adorn (something) with tinsel.
2. (broadly, transitive) To adorn (something) with tinsel.
3. (figuratively, transitive) To give (something) a false or superficial attractiveness.

Noun

1. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.
2. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.
3. (broadly, uncountable, usually) 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.
4. (broadly, figuratively, uncountable, usually) Anything shining and gaudy; especially something superficially shiny and showy, or having a false lustre, and more pretty than valuable.

Adj

1. (not-comparable, obsolete) Of fabric: ornamented by being woven with gold or silver thread, or overlaid with thin metal plates; brocaded.
2. (broadly, not-comparable, obsolete) Glittering.
3. (broadly, figuratively, not-comparable) Apparently beautiful and costly but having little value; superficially attractive; gaudy, showy, tawdry.

Noun

1. (Scotland, obsolete, transitive, uncountable) Damage, detriment; loss.
2. (Scotland, archaic, transitive, uncountable) Deprivation; forfeiture.

Synonyms

spangle

trumpery

foil

braid

tawdry

embellish

flitter

galloon

gaud

gaudy

gimcrack

gimcrackery

glorify

hair

kitsch

lace

leaf

nicknack

ostentatious

pad

pedal

prettify

silver

silver-plate

sugarcoat

sweeten

tinfoil

trinket

window-dress

wire

clinquant

knick-knackery

romanticise

silverplate

copper-tinsel

metallic thread

euphemise

metallic paper

metallic foil

bauble

blocking foil

brummagem

color

colour

electroplate

Translations

Lametta

clinquant

oropel

orpello

Rauschgold

oropelar

espumillón

flittern

Talmi

στολίζω φτηνιάρικα

بهرجان

στιλπνό νήμα

guirlande

από αλουμίνιο

φθηνός και επιδεικτικός

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtɪns(ə)l/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: tinsel

Cognate with French: étincelle

Cognate with French: étinceler

In summary

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.