GLITZY

adjective (Lifestyle and Leisure) In show-business slang (originally in the US): full of cheap glitter, extravagantly showy, ostentatious, flashy (often with the implication that there is little of substance under the glitter); tawdry or gaudy. Etymology: Probably related to German glitzerig or glitzig 'glittering' and its Yiddish equivalents, but perhaps influenced by glitter and ritzy. History and Usage: The word was first used in American show-business circles in the mid sixties, but it was in the late seventies and eighties that it suddenly became one of the most fashionable reviewers' buzzwords and started to reach a wider audience. This sudden vogue coincided with a particularly showy phase in television entertainment, with the conspicuous wealth and glamour of such upmarket soap operas as Dallas and Dynasty attracting large audiences in all parts of the English-speaking world. Its new popularity was reflected in a number of derivatives which appeared in the late seventies and early eighties: the nouns glitziness and glitz (extravagant but superficial display, show-business glamour), from which a verb glitz (up) was later formed; the adverb glitzily; and a number of humorous one-off formations such as glitzerati (see glitterati), glitznost (the repackaging of the Labour Party: see glasnost), glitzville, and Glitzkrieg. Glitz often appears in the same sentence as glam (short for glamour) or hype to refer to the superficially glamorous and publicity-seeking world of entertainment, or indeed to anything that tries too hard to 'sell itself'. All of these words are usually at least partly pejorative, corresponding to the more established British English word flashy (and its derviatives flashiness etc.) and serving as an antonym for classy (classiness etc.). The British Film Institute glitzed up its 1985 Awards bash last week...by getting an impressive line-up of screen talent to announce the shortlists. Listener 9 May 1985, p. 31 The phrase 'mini-series' brings visions of melodramatic plots, beautiful women, dastardly men, elaborate costumes, sex, death, mystery and Joan Collins...But with the four-part series, In Between,...there is no glam, no glitz and no Joan Collins. Daily Sun (Brisbane) 5 Mar. 1987, p. 17 Nice women grow old and glum, cynical too, in all this glitz of fur, silk, leather, cosmetics, et cetera, of the glamour trades. Saul Bellow A Theft (1988), p. 49 The conventions have become glitzy coronations instead of fiercely-fought inside battles. Independent 16 July 1988, p. 6 Most of the pictures used only impress the British professional because of their earning ability--often they're glitzy superficial rubbish produced to a formula. Photopro Spring 1990, p. 4 See also tack