Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Given to or marked by elaborate, ostentatious, or audacious display or behavior. synonym: showy.
  • adjective Richly or brightly colored; resplendent.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or having wavy lines and flamelike forms characteristic of 15th- and 16th-century French Gothic architecture.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Flaming.
  • Wavy; having a waved outline like that of a flame: said of the blades of certain heavy swords of the middle ages, and of the Malay creese and similar weapons. Also flaming.
  • In architecture: Characterized by wavy, flame-like tracery, as in windows and openwork: an epithet applied to that highly ornate or florid style of French medieval architecture which was contemporary with the English Perpendicular, or to details in this style: as, a flamboyant window.
  • Characterized by irregular and distorted forms or glaring colors.
  • Hence Figuratively, of style, dress, and the like, florid; conspicuous; showy: as, a flamboyant rhetoric.
  • noun A name given in the West Indies to several plants with brilliantly colored flowers, as Cæsalpinia pulcherrima, Poinciana regia, and Erythrina Corallodendron.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Arch.) Characterized by waving or flamelike curves, as in the tracery of windows, etc.; -- said of the later (15th century) French Gothic style.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Showy, bold or audacious in behaviour, appearance, etc.
  • adjective architecture Referred to as the final stage of French Gothic architecture from the 14th to the 16th centuries.
  • noun A showy tropical tree, the royal poinciana (Delonix regia)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective elaborately or excessively ornamented
  • noun showy tropical tree or shrub native to Madagascar; widely planted in tropical regions for its immense racemes of scarlet and orange flowers; sometimes placed in genus Poinciana
  • adjective marked by ostentation but often tasteless

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, present participle of flamboyer, to blaze, from flambe, flame; see flame.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French flamboyant ("flaming, wavy"), participle of flamboyer ("to flame"), from Old French flamboier, from flambe ("flame")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word flamboyant.

Examples

  • But there are many reasons I don't bother with regular book reviews, even as I indulge in flamboyant movie coverage.

    books books books books books 2004

  • UNIDENTIFIED LAWYER: What behavior do you mean to communicate by use of the word flamboyant?

    CNN Transcript Aug 5, 2002 2002

  • In his private life, he was known as a flamboyant playboy often seen wearing purple scarves and flight suits.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • Eddie McGuire got in trouble this week when he called flamboyant US figure skater

    Lifelounge.com - Daily Goodness author 2010

  • Burns soon became known as flamboyant singer Captain Sensible and Miller as manic drummer Rat Scabies as they formed The Damned and released the first ever UK punk single, New Rose, and album, Damned Damned Damned.

    Your Local Guardian | Wimbledon 2010

  • a trifle assertive and what he called flamboyant in their conversation, they nevertheless, as a rule, meant just what they said.

    The Gold Trail Harold Bindloss 1905

  • Castro is a fucking lowest kind of scum, the sort that strides around in flamboyant uniforms to assert their disgusting, rapacious power.

    Matthew Yglesias » US vs Zimbabwe 2010

  • First Impression: Janelle is described as flamboyant, and she doesn’t care what others think.

    5-Star Baby Name Advisor Bruce Lansky 2008

  • First Impression: Janelle is described as flamboyant, and she doesn’t care what others think.

    5-Star Baby Name Advisor Bruce Lansky 2008

  • While in Congress, Traficant was known as a flamboyant and eccentric behavior.

    The Return of Jim Traficant | myFiveBest 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The name given to a florid style of late Gothic architecture in vogue in France, Spain and Portugal during the 15th century; the equivalent period in English architecture is called Perpendicular, and in Germany the Sondergotik. It evolved from the Rayonnant style and was marked by even greater attention to decoration. (Wikipedia)

    October 10, 2008