Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Tinsel

Tin′sel (tĭn′sĕl), n. [F. étincelle a spark, OF. estincelle, L. scintilla. Cf. Scintillate, Stencil.] 1. A shining material used for ornamental purposes; especially, a very thin, gauzelike cloth with much gold or silver woven into it; also, very thin metal overlaid with a thin coating of gold or silver, brass foil, or the like.

Who can discern the tinsel from the gold? Dryden.

2. Something shining and gaudy; something superficially shining and showy, or having a false luster, and more gay than valuable.

O happy peasant! O unhappy bard! His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward. Cowper.

Tin′sel, a. Showy to excess; gaudy; specious; superficial. "Tinsel trappings." Milton.

Tin′sel, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tinseled or Tinselled; p. pr. & vb. n. Tinseling or Tinselling.] To adorn with tinsel; to deck out with cheap but showy ornaments; to make gaudy.

She, tinseled o'er in robes of varying hues. Pope.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.