flamboyant

[flam-boi-uhnt]

adjective

1. strikingly bold or brilliant; showy.

   flamboyant colors.

2. conspicuously dashing and colorful.

   the flamboyant idol of international society.

3. florid; ornate; elaborately styled.

   flamboyant speeches.

4. Architecture.

   1. having the form of an ogee, as a bar of tracery.

   2. 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.

noun

1. royal poinciana.

flamboyant

/ flæmˈbɔɪənt /

adjective

1. elaborate or extravagant; florid; showy

2. rich or brilliant in colour; resplendent

3. exuberant or ostentatious

4. of, denoting, or relating to the French Gothic style of architecture characterized by flamelike tracery and elaborate carving

noun

1. another name for royal poinciana

Other Word Forms

• flamboyance noun
• flamboyancy noun
• flamboyantly adverb
• unflamboyant adjective
• unflamboyantly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of flamboyant¹

1825–35; < French, present participle of flamboyer to flame, flair, derivative of Old French flambe flame; -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of flamboyant¹

C19: from French: flaming, from flamboyer to _flame

Example Sentences

In his review, Joseph Horowitz called the book “as honest and unassuming as Stokowski was evasive and flamboyant.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Split Fiction, from Hazelight Studio, led by flamboyant former film director Josef Fares, was a follow-up to previous Game of the Year winner It Takes Two, but missed out on a nomination itself.

Read more on BBC

But Bloomberg News said it could reflect plans by the Japanese company's flamboyant founder Masayoshi Son to boost his own influence in the AI field.

Read more on Barron's

The band, which had its final show in 2023, was known for flamboyant performances, and costumes and heavy makeup.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Diggs’s flamboyant colleague from Harlem, Adam Clayton Powell, loomed larger as a public figure, but, Mr. Orr argues, on Capitol Hill the quiet Diggs “accomplished far more” than his black fellow representative.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bombastic 
• brilliant 
• colorful 
• dazzling 
• flashy 
• glamorous 
• ornate 
• splashy 
• swashbuckling