NOUN (2)

1. a showy decoration that is basically valueless;
- Example: "all the tinsel of self-promotion"

2. a thread with glittering metal foil attached;


VERB (3)

1. impart a cheap brightness to;
- Example: "his tinseled image of Hollywood"

2. adorn with tinsel;
- Example: "snow flakes tinseled the trees"

3. interweave with tinsel;
- Example: "tinseled velvet"

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tinsel \Tin"sel\, n. [F. ['e]tincelle 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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Who can discern the tinsel from the gold? --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Something shining and gaudy; something superficially
      shining and showy, or having a false luster, and more gay
      than valuable.
      [1913 Webster]

            O happy peasant! O unhappy bard!
            His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward. --Cowper.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tinsel \Tin"sel\, a.
   Showy to excess; gaudy; specious; superficial. "Tinsel
   trappings." --Milton.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tinsel \Tin"sel\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tinseledor Tinselled;
   p. pr. & vb. n. Tinseling or Tinselling.]
   To adorn with tinsel; to deck out with cheap but showy
   ornaments; to make gaudy.
   [1913 Webster]

         She, tinseled o'er in robes of varying hues. --Pope.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

tinsel
    n 1: a showy decoration that is basically valueless; "all the
         tinsel of self-promotion"
    2: a thread with glittering metal foil attached
    v 1: impart a cheap brightness to; "his tinseled image of
         Hollywood"
    2: adorn with tinsel; "snow flakes tinseled the trees"
    3: interweave with tinsel; "tinseled velvet"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

152 Moby Thesaurus words for "tinsel":
   affected, apocryphal, apparent, artificial, assumed, bastard, bead,
   bejewel, beribbon, bespangle, blatant, blink, blinking, bogus,
   bravery, brazen, brummagem, cheat, chiffon, chintzy, clinquant,
   colorable, colored, coruscate, coruscation, counterfeit,
   counterfeited, diamond, distorted, dressed up, dummy, embellished,
   embroidered, engrave, ersatz, factitious, fake, faked, fakement,
   falsified, feather, feigned, festoons, fictitious, fictive, figure,
   filigree, finery, firefly, flag, flashy, flounce, flower, folderol,
   foofaraw, forgery, frame-up, fraud, frilliness, frilling, frills,
   frills and furbelows, frippery, froufrou, fuss, gaiety, garbled,
   garish, garland, gaudery, gem, gilded, gilding, gilt, gingerbread,
   glaring, glimmer, glimmering, glisk, glisten, glister, glitter,
   glittering, glowworm, hoax, illegitimate, illuminate, imitation,
   impostor, jewel, junk, junky, loud, make-believe, man-made,
   meretricious, mock, ostensible, paint, paste, perverted, phony,
   pinchbeck, plausible, plume, pretended, pseudo, put-on, put-up job,
   quasi, queer, ribbon, rip-off, scintilla, scintillate,
   scintillation, seeming, self-styled, sham, shimmer, shimmering,
   shoddy, simulacrum, simulated, so-called, soi-disant, spangle,
   spark, sparkle, specious, spurious, stroboscopic light,
   superfluity, supposititious, swindle, synthetic, tawdry, tin,
   titivated, trappings, trickery, trumpery, twinkle, twinkling,
   twisted, unauthentic, ungenuine, unnatural, unreal, warped,
   whited sepulcher, wreathe