1851, from chintz + -y (2). "decorated or covered with chintz," especially in a derogatory extended sense "suburban, unfashionable, petit-bourgeois, cheap; mean, stingy" [OED].
Entries linking to chintzy
chintz n.
"cotton cloth printed with flowers or other colorful patterns," 1719, plural of chint (1610s), from Hindi chint, from Sanskrit chitra-s "clear, bright" (compare cheetah). The plural (the more common form of the word in commercial use) came to be regarded as singular by late 18c., and for unknown reason shifted -s to -z; perhaps after quartz. Disparaging sense, from the commonness of the fabric, is first suggested by 1851 (in George Eliot's use of chintzy).
The term chintz-work is descriptive of that kind of calico-printing which is employed for beds, window-curtains, and other furniture, and it differs more in the richness and variety of the colours, than in any other circumstance. [Abraham Rees, "Cyclopaedia," 1819]
-y 2
adjective suffix, "full of or characterized by," from Old English -ig, from Proto-Germanic *-iga- (source also of Dutch, Danish, German -ig, Gothic -egs), from PIE -(i)ko-, adjectival suffix, cognate with elements in Greek -ikos, Latin -icus (see -ic). Originally added to nouns in Old English; used from 13c. with verbs, and by 15c. even with other adjectives (for example crispy). Adjectives such as hugy, vasty are artificial words that exist for the sake of poetical metrics.