garish

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʰow-rós
2. Old Norse · derived fromgá“to watch, heed”
3. Middle English · inherited fromgawren“to stare”
4. English todaygarish

Unknown, possibly from obsolete Middle English gawren (“to stare”) which is of uncertain origin, probably from Old Norse gá (“to watch, heed”) or gaurr (“rough fellow”) (Proto-Indo-European *gʰow-rós, from *gʰew- (“to be angry”)). Compare with English gaw.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1540s Overly ostentatious; so colorful as to be in bad taste.