Also called bird-of-paradise flower. any of several plants of the genus Strelitzia, native to southern Africa, especially S. reginae, having a large, showy orange and blue inflorescence.
a small tree or shrub, Caesalpinia (Poinciana ) gilliesii, native to South America, having featherlike leaves and showy yellow flowers with red stamens.
any songbird of the family Paradisaeidae of New Guinea and neighbouring regions, the males of which have brilliantly coloured ornate plumage
any of various banana-like plants of the genus Strelitzia , esp S. reginae , that are native to tropical southern Africa and South America and have purple bracts and large orange or yellow flowers resembling birds' heads: family Strelitziaceae
First recorded in 1600–10
First recorded in 1880–85
First recorded in 1650–60
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Like winged creatures of the sky it draws its nickname from, the bird of paradise seems always ready for takeoff, angling itself toward the light of better tomorrows, or at least the possibility of them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2024
This was how the bird of paradise first made itself known to me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2024
Over the weekend, a middle school teacher, Kahealani David, 41, and her 12-year-old daughter, Vaihere, brought bird of paradise flowers as an offering to leave on the cooled lava from previous eruptions.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
The only decorations were a few plants he’d picked up at Trader Joe’s — a bird of paradise, two money trees — along with a white board that was blank as the decor.
From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2022
Mom jumps from the taxi in her sling-back pumps and runs past the giant bird of paradise bushes, past the rotting pawpaw tree, and up the three front steps of Abuela Celia’s house.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
A mention of the illustrious bird-of-paradise flower elicits coos and awe from the women.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
If you’re lucky, your bird-of-paradise may give you the rare Seattle gift of a flower by summer’s end.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
But on examining a black feather from a bird-of-paradise under a microscope, “I almost fell out of my chair.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2019
It wasn’t a photo of a bird-of-paradise or a puffin.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 24, 2019
"Now, Mohi, who art thou?" said Yoomy, nodding his bird-of-paradise plume.
From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. II by Melville, Herman
This Bird of Paradise unisex robe is billed as a scene stealer, and it’s easy to see why.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2021
Albert F. Hegenberger arrived at Wheeler Field in Hawaii aboard the Bird of Paradise, an Atlantic-Fokker C-2, after flying 2,400 miles from Oakland, California, in 25 hours, 50 minutes.
From US News ● Jun. 29, 2015
His novelty songs, including his biggest hit “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” about good and bad luck, earned him a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 3, 2015
To understand why he was such an extraordinary figure, just read The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise, a Narrative of Travel with Studies of Man and Nature.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 11, 2013
The women checked into the Bird of Paradise Motel across from the pueblo-style building that housed the Lovelace Clinic on Gibson Boulevard.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Think of the bright elastic throats of anole lizards, the Fabergé abdomens of peacock spiders and the curling, iridescent, ludicrously long feathers of birds-of-paradise.
From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 2019
Found only in New Guinea and parts of Australia, birds-of-paradise are a case study in the power of evolution.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 31, 2013
In 2004, Cornell University scientist Edwin Scholes and National Geographic photographer Tim Laman set out to complete the first comprehensive study of all birds-of-paradise.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 31, 2013
As Scholes explains, birds-of-paradise belong to the Corvoidea family and are, in a sense, “little more than glorified crows.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 26, 2013
Most of it was hidden behind palms and blooming birds-of-paradise.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
