cornflower
Americannoun
-
Also called bachelor's-button, bluebottle. a European composite plant, Centaurea cyanus, growing in grainfields, having blue to white flower heads, often cultivated as an ornamental.
-
Also called cornflower blue. a deep, vivid blue.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cornflower
Vocabulary lists containing cornflower
Blue
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Yellow
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Five minutes into the new Hulu documentary “Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna,” the film’s director, Rachel Mason, stands against the cornflower blue of the endless New Mexican sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2025
Of course, in the fashion world, an item of clothing can't just be blue, so Laws says he thinks cornflower and cobalt blue will make a particular appearance across shows.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2024
The bright blue cornflower, for instance, assembles a large complex of six anthocyanins and six copigments arranged like spokes on a wheel around four metal ions.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 14, 2023
U.S. first lady Jill Biden wore a cornflower blue skirt suit by Ralph Lauren, with a matching hairpiece and gloves.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2023
She lay under the faded bedding like a rag doll losing its stuffing, her hair a wild collection of snakes on the pillow, her cornflower blue eyes poisoned with streaks of yellow and red.
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
This includes cornflowers, corncockle and corn marigold - what he terms the iconic British countryside flowers.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025
Some of my favorites include violas, zinnias, rose petals, cornflowers and flowering herbs.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2022
The chamomile, cornflowers, ferns, irises and rustling grasses of the fields.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2022
She added that the bees will come when the cornflowers bloom, in warmer, bluer months.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2021
Not the blue of cornflowers or dragonfly wings or skies, and not of tyranny, either, or murder waiting to happen.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
