Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To exhibit ostentatiously or shamelessly: synonym: show.
- intransitive verb Usage Problem To ignore or disregard (a rule, for example) openly or scornfully.
- intransitive verb To show oneself off or move in an ostentatious way.
- intransitive verb To wave grandly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of flaunting.
- noun Anything displayed for show; finery.
- noun A boast; a vaunt; a brag.
- To wave or flutter smartly in the wind.
- To make a smart show in apparel or equipment of any kind; make an ostentatious or brazen display; move or act ostentatiously or brazenly; be glaring or gaudy: sometimes with an indefinite it: as, a flaunting show.
- To display ostentatiously, impudently, or offensively: as, to
flaunt rich apparel.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To display ostentatiously; to make an impudent show of.
- noun obsolete Anything displayed for show.
- intransitive verb To throw or spread out; to flutter; to move ostentatiously.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive, obsolete To
wave orflutter smartly in the wind. - verb transitive To
parade ,display withostentation . - verb intransitive (
archaic or literary) Toshow off withflashy clothing.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously
- noun the act of displaying something ostentatiously
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The actors, dubbed in English, flaunt bold, black leather spacesuits as they bravely march through stage fog on a set aglow in strange popsicle colors.
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It is a deeply incisive explanation of how we all begin, how we plod on, and how we approach the end -- we are always looking for a theory or an idea to bring cohesion to the chaos that is life, whether it be the career we choose (or reject) or the spouse we adore (or don't) or the label we flaunt ("free-spirit," "dependable," "respectable").
Nina Sankovitch: The Story of Life: How It All Began by Penelope Lively Nina Sankovitch 2012
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It is a deeply incisive explanation of how we all begin, how we plod on, and how we approach the end -- we are always looking for a theory or an idea to bring cohesion to the chaos that is life, whether it be the career we choose (or reject) or the spouse we adore (or don't) or the label we flaunt ("free-spirit," "dependable," "respectable").
Nina Sankovitch: The Story of Life: How It All Began by Penelope Lively Nina Sankovitch 2012
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To flaunt is to make an ostentatious or defiant display: She flaunted her beauty.
Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage PAUL R. MARTIN 2002
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To flaunt is to make an ostentatious or defiant display: She flaunted her beauty.
Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage PAUL R. MARTIN 2002
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I don't know what many people are referring to when they describe them as wanting to "flaunt" it.
Gay soldier: Obama's 'don't ask' pledge a reprinted IOU 2010
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I don't know what many people are referring to when they describe them as wanting to "flaunt" it.
Gay soldier: Obama's 'don't ask' pledge a reprinted IOU 2010
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With faux compassion, they say – well, this is what happens if you "flaunt" your sexuality by behaving like everybody else.
Johann Hari: Why Is Anti-Gay Violence Soaring in Britain? 2009
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Perhaps another was that -- was not knowing the difference between "flaunt" and "flout."
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HEDREN: It's very important to be very, very special, and have that -- that, you know -- I think people who kind of flaunt all of it are -- I don't find that very interesting.
CNN Transcript - Larry King Live: How Can Women Make Beauty Last, Inside and Out? - June 8, 2000 2000
slumry commented on the word flaunt
Sometimes confused with flout.
July 12, 2007
shanvrolijk commented on the word flaunt
"their owners are often criticized for flaunting their femininity"
Source: Free The Nipple in Korea? Why Not? Uncovering the history of a taboo
January 22, 2018