chintzy

the word 'chintzy' originates from 'chintz', a term for a brightly patterned glazed cotton fabric imported from india in the 17th century. the fabric's association with mass production and its often garish patterns led, by the late 19th century, to 'chintz' becoming a byword for cheapness and gaudiness. the adjective-forming suffix '-y' was then appended, creating 'chintzy' to describe anything considered tastelessly cheap or of poor quality. a semantic extension occurred in american english, where the idea of cheapness evolved further to describe a person who is miserly or stingy.

Structure: chintz (a type of fabric) + y (adjective-forming suffix) chintz (from hindi चीट (cīṭ), meaning 'spotted or variegated cotton cloth', via sanskrit चित्र (citra), meaning 'bright, spotted'); y (old english adjective-forming suffix, from proto-germanic -īgaz, meaning 'having the quality of').