Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BEDIZENED
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
pronounce
BEDIZENED:
Say it "buh DIE zund."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Perhaps you're old enough to have bedazzled your jeans with rhinestones and plastic gems. Oof, the crazy things we wore. Maybe you enjoyed that trend and found it truly bedazzling: stunning, gorgeous. Or maybe you found it bedizened: tacky, tasteless, hideously decorated.
As we check out that fun, old-fashioned word bedizened, let's recall some synonyms, like tacky, tasteless, gaudy, or___aceous ("as showy as a tropical flower"), g_r_sh ("too bright and colorful"), and t__dry ("tasteless and shoddy").
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
"Dizen" is an old verb that first meant "to dress up a distaff with fibers to be spun," and then more generally, "to dress up, to decorate, or to add cheap or tacky decorations." It might trace back to the Low German word diesse, meaning "flax on a distaff."
In case you were wondering, a distaff is a long tool that keeps fibers neat and tidy so that they can be spun into thread. And as you can see in this painting, it does look kind of fancy: that might be some kind of nice, fluffy flax that seems to decorate the distaff.
We don't use that word "dizen" anymore, but we do use its longer version, "bedizen."
To bedizen something is to dress it up, trying to make it fancy, but actually making it look tacky, gaudy, or vulgar.
And something bedizened has been dressed-up or decorated in a tasteless, tacky, gaudy way.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "this bedizened pageant dress," "that bedizened brass tower."
Also a verb: "The tree from last year still stands in the corner, bedizened with dusty tinsel."
Other forms:
Bedizen, bedizening, bedizenment.
how to use it:
"Bedizened" is a somewhat rare and old-fashioned word, so it's great for calling attention to just how awful something looks.
You might talk about bedizened people and their bedizened clothes, hairstyles, and accessories, or about bedizened objects, places, buildings, and so on: "these pageant contestants bedizened with stage makeup," "this storefront window bedizened in sequins."
Feel free to get figurative: "a speech bedizened with foreign phrases and pop-culture references;" "a facial expression bedizened with indignant shock;" "the truth, but heavily bedizened."
examples:
"The minister... was most bedizened with gold lace, stars, and trumpery of every sort."
— Henry Lunettes, The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion, 1864
"[Dusty] Springfield looked the very model of a 1960s pop diva, with her stiff cotton-candy coiffures and batwing eyelashes. But the sound that emerged from the facade was intriguingly at odds with the bedizened persona."
— Staff, New York Times, 16 November 2012
has this page helped you understand "bedizened"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "bedizened" without saying "kitschy" or "chintzy."
try it out:
The blog McMansion Hell exists so we can all have a good laugh at bedizened rooms in bedizened homes.
Check out this dining room:
What do you think: is it fair to call this room bedizened? Or do you find it elegant? Talk about why.
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Oddball Recall!
Given some abbreviated definitions and a few letters, try to recall some of the kookiest terms we've studied. To see the answers, scroll all the way down.
Try this set today: What a Character.
1. Giant: Br__d___n__ian.
2. Lazy dreamer: lo___-___er.
3. Data-obsessor: Gr__gr___.
4. Optimistic fool: M_c____r.
5. Optimistic fool: P__gl___.
review this word:
A. CHIC and ELEGANT.
B. ALERT and ENERGIZED.
C. FOCUSED and CLEAR-HEADED.
2.
The villain emerged onstage, bedizened in _____.
A. a black cloak
B. a sharp tuxedo
C. feathers and sequins
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
"Dizen" is an old verb that first meant "to dress up a distaff with fibers to be spun," and then more generally, "to dress up, to decorate, or to add cheap or tacky decorations." It might trace back to the Low German word diesse, meaning "flax on a distaff."
Part of speech:
"Bedizened" is a somewhat rare and old-fashioned word, so it's great for calling attention to just how awful something looks.
"The minister... was most bedizened with gold lace, stars, and trumpery of every sort."
Explain the meaning of "bedizened" without saying "kitschy" or "chintzy."
The blog McMansion Hell exists so we can all have a good laugh at bedizened rooms in bedizened homes.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |
