Meaning

noun (Britain) a celebratory reunion feast or entertainment held a college

adjective tastelessly showy

adjective (used especially of clothes) marked by conspicuous display

originFrom Middle English gaudi, from Old French gaudie, from Medieval Latin gaudia. equivalent to gaud (“ornament, trinket”) + -y. Alternatively, from Middle English gaudi, gawdy (“yellowish”), from Old French gaude, galde (“weld (the plant)”), from Frankish *walda, from Proto-Germanic *walþō, *walþijō, akin to Old English *weald, *wielde (>Middle English welde, wolde and Anglo-Latin walda (“alum”)),…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0