plush horsen.adj.
/ˌplʌʃ ˈhɔːs/, U.S. /ˌpləʃ ˈ(h)ɔrs/ U.S.
A. n.
A toy horse made from plush. Also: the type of something ostentatious, luxurious, etc.; frequently in dressed (up) like (Mrs) Astor's plush horse and variants (see quot. 1937).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > flashiness or gaudiness > [noun] > instance or example of
painted sheath1542
puff1567
wonderclout1570
snobbery1866
plush horse1891
tartine1907
dog's dinner1996
1891 Boston Daily Globe 6 Dec. 17 (advt.) 15 styles Skin and Plush Horses.
1903 Post Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 5 Dec. 5/5 Real skin horses, plush horses, trotting horses, rocking horses, [etc.]
1913 Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 7 Jan. 6/6 In contrast with these is the senator himself, of slight physique, kindly of mien, and to all appearances as approachable as a plush horse.
1920 S. Lewis Main St. xxviii. 332 How's the kid? All dolled up like a plush horse today, ain't we!
1920 Chicago Tribune 8 Feb. vi. 2/3 The opening was really too brilliant. Everybody was dressed like Mrs. Astor's plush horse.
1937 N. Johnson Mrs. Astor's Horse 8 It was in the late nineteenth century that the gilded, overstuffed magnificence of Mrs. Astor led the peasants to say of any one who was rather ostentatiously dolled up: ‘She is dressed up like Mrs. Astor's plush horse.’
1954 Austin (Minnesota) Daily Herald 9 June 5/1 They seem to eat just as well and are dressed like Astor's plush horse.
1997 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) (Nexis) 21 Mar. f1 Brittany's Club, a doll line for horse lovers, features Steiff, a doll-sized plush horse that carries a suggested retail price of $210.
B. adj. (attributive).
Ostentatiously luxurious or extravagant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > flashiness or gaudiness > [adjective]
fine1526
garish1545
flaunting1567
gawish1567
taffety1597
showful1607
flaming1609
flaring1610
over-brave1620
showish1675
rantingc1685
gaudy1709
showy1712
tinselled1738
kicky1790
flaunty1796
flashy1801
slangish1813
florid1815
tigerish1831
flash1836
flary1841
loud1850
flashy-looking1852
splurgy1852
cheesy1858
flagrant1858
jingo1859
cheesy1863
orchidaceous1864
flamboyant1879
vociferous1883
voyant1906
grandstanding1908
floozy1911
ritzy1919
like a (or the) dog's dinner1927
plush horse1936
kitsch1953
zazzy1961
pizzazz1969
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > exaggeration, hyperbole > [adjective] > extravagant, excessive
overdoinga1425
ramping1484
egregious1566
desperatea1568
outlandish1588
hyperbolical1589
furious1671
wanton1680
outré1722
steep1856
plush horse1936
1936 J. Dos Passos Big Money 201 What I'd love more than anything in the world would be to get out and make my own living. I hate this plushhorse existence.
1997 Denver Post (Nexis) 23 Nov. 14 The artist's description of his show in California, ‘the most wonderful example of plush horse Hollywood’, is an amusing description of the excesses one expects from filmmaking's capital.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1891