Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TIN'SEL, n. [Fr. etincelle, a spark.]

1. Something very shining and gaudy; something superficially shining and showy, or having a false luster, and more gay than valuable. Who can discern the tinsel from the gold? Dryden. If the man will too curiously examine the superficial tinsel good, he undeceives himself to his cost. Norris.
2. A kind of shining cloth. Fairfax.
3. A kind of lace.