tin|sel

tin|sel «TIHN suhl», noun, adjective, verb, -seled, -sel|ling or (especially British) -selled, -sel|ling.

–n.

1. glittering copper, brass, or some other metal, in thin shee, strips, or threads. Tinsel is used to trim Christmas trees.

2. Figurative. anything showy but having little value: »

That poverty of ideas which had been hitherto concealed under the tinsel of politeness (Samuel Johnson).

3. a thin cloth of silk or wool woven with threads of gold, silver, or copper: »

She wore a beautiful dress of gold tinsel.

–adj.

of or like tinsel; showy but not worth much.

–v.t.

1. to trim with tinsel.

2. Figurative. to make showy or gaudy; cover the defects with or as if with tinsel.

╂[apparently short for Middle French estincelle spark < Vulgar Latin stincilla, alteration of Latin scintilla. See etym. of doublets scintilla (Cf. ↑scintilla), stencil. (Cf. ↑stencil)]

–tin´sel|like´, adjective.