matchy-matchy

English

WOTD – 5 August 2017

Etymology

A couple in Ghana wearing clothes with a matching print

Reduplication of matchy.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmatʃi ˌmatʃi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmætʃi ˌmætʃi/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: matchy‧matchy

Adjective

matchy-matchy (comparative more matchy-matchy, superlative most matchy-matchy)

1. (fashion) Of clothes or upholstery: excessively color-coordinated.
   • [1995, Mary Cantwell, chapter 4, in Manhattan, When I was Young, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 139:

     We are dressing for a dinner party, I in a black skirt with a porthole over which I have dropped an empire-waisted blue schmatte. Schmatte, along with "merch" for merchandise and "matchy-matchy," as in "That sweater and skirt are too matchy-matchy," is among the words I have picked up at Mlle [Madamoiselle].]

   • 2006 February 6, Joanna Douglas, “Pronounced Ah-bye-ah-tay: Abaeté Designer Laura Poretzky Let Us Tag Along as She Prepared for Her First Fashion Show at New York’s Bryant Park”, in Christina Kelly, editor, Elle Girl, New York, N.Y.: Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 89:

     "Shall we do it matchy-matchy?" Laura asks, holding up a teal top with teal flowered Bermuda shorts. / "Sooner or later, matching is going to be the new non-matching," Rodney states proudly.

   • 2008, Nancy Marie, “Chic and Stylish”, in Style, Beauty, Trimness, [s.l.]: Fabuleux Paris, →ISBN, page 25:

     Matchy-Matchy is no longer considered the height of chic. This was a throwback from the 1950's when women seemed to enjoy matching everything, shoes, bags, belts, lipstick, toilet paper, tissues, etc. Now it simply looks time consuming and complicated. Part of looking effortlessly chic is having the ability to look good but not matchy-matchy perfect. Matchy-matchy has been out for ages in the style world.

   • 2015, Anita Joyce, “Decorating Guidelines”, in French Accents: Farmhouse French Style for Today’s Home, Springville, Utah: Plain Sight Publishing, Cedar Fort, Inc., →ISBN:

     I used to really like matchy-matchy everything. If I liked he chair, then I wanted the sofa, end table, coffee table, and settee to match it. I remember hearing that matchy-matchy was bad because then your house would look like a catalog photo for a furniture store. […] Then as I got older, I finally agreed with that sentiment. Catalog rooms look nice, but they don't look like someone lives there. They don't have a soul.

Synonyms

• matchy

Antonyms

• clashy-clashy

Derived terms

• matchy-matchiness

Related terms

• matchy
• matchiness
• mixy-matchy

Translations

excessively color-coordinated

• Latvian: saskaņots