flamboyant
[flam-boi-uh nt]
- strikingly bold or brilliant; showy: flamboyant colors.
- conspicuously dashing and colorful: the flamboyant idol of international society.
- florid; ornate; elaborately styled: flamboyant speeches.
- Architecture.
- having the form of an ogee, as a bar of tracery.
- noting or pertaining to French Gothic architecture of the late 15th and early and middle 16th centuries, characterized by the use of flamboyant tracery, intricacy of detailing, virtuosity of workmanship, attenuation of parts, and frequent complication of interior space.
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Origin of flamboyant
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
splashyglamorousbombasticcolorfulbrilliantdazzlingflashyornateswashbucklinggaudyswankcampflamingchichirichbaroquerococodashingelaborateexcitingExamples from the Web for flamboyant
Contemporary Examples
A flamboyant, multi-titled, multiply married royal to remember, the Duchess of Alba died Thursday at the age of 88.
Because when the biggest global demonstration is a broadcaster wearing a flamboyant article of clothing, more must be done.
Air Asia is run by a flamboyant character called Tony Fernandez.
Whether Newark chooses the moderate and measured Jeffries or the fiery and flamboyant Baraka, there is cause for optimism.
The Leak of a Mysterious Video Could Change the Outcome of Newark’s Mayor’s RaceCharles Upton Sahm
May 5, 2014
The most flamboyant of America's weenies, the Sonoran hot dog, has a murky genealogy.
Historical Examples
Only, there was an over-elaboration, so that the ensemble was flamboyant.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
There was no forgetting the flamboyant brilliancy of her apparel.
ThoroughbredsW. A. Fraser
It was flamboyant and showy; cheap, and tawdrily pretentious.
St. Martin's SummerRafael Sabatini
They sent off telegrams of the most flamboyant kind about our Puritan forefathers.
The Red Hand of UlsterGeorge A. Birmingham
The apse is flamboyant, as are also the windows of the south transept.
The Cathedrals of Northern FranceFrancis Miltoun
flamboyant
- elaborate or extravagant; florid; showy
- rich or brilliant in colour; resplendent
- exuberant or ostentatious
- of, denoting, or relating to the French Gothic style of architecture characterized by flamelike tracery and elaborate carving
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- another name for royal poinciana
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Word Origin
C19: from French: flaming, from flamboyer to flame
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for flamboyant
adj.
1832, first used of a 15c.-16c. architectural style with flame-like curves, from French flamboyant "flaming, wavy," present participle of flamboyer "to flame," from Old French flamboier (12c.), from flambe "flame," from flamble, variant of flamme, from Latin flammula (see flame (n.)). Extended sense of "showy, ornate" is 1879. Related: Flamboyantly.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper