florid

[flawr-id, flor-]

adjective

1. reddish; ruddy; rosy.

   a florid complexion.

   Antonyms: pale

2. flowery; excessively ornate; showy.

   florid writing.

   Synonyms: gaudy, flash, rococo, grandiloquent, flamboyant
   Antonyms: unaffected, simple, plain

3. Obsolete.,  abounding in or consisting of flowers.

florid

/ ˈflɒrɪd /

adjective

1. having a red or flushed complexion

2. excessively ornate; flowery

   florid architecture

3. an archaic word for flowery

Other Word Forms

• floridity noun
• floridness noun
• floridly adverb
• overflorid adjective
• overfloridly adverb
• overfloridness noun
• unflorid adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of florid¹

1635–45; < Latin flōridus, equivalent to flōr ( ēre ) to bloom ( florescence ) + -idus -id ⁴

Word History and Origins

Origin of florid¹

C17: from Latin flōridus blooming

Example Sentences

The gold-painted dome ceiling has a florid original mural of angels that Trinity Broadcasting founder Paul Crouch called “Orange County’s own Sistine Chapel.”

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“Nile is an unapologetically florid character,” Danes says of Nile.

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As The Scythe illustrates, From The Pyre is a deeply personal record – even though the band have a tendency to self-mythologise and dress their stories in florid, theatrical outfits.

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But just as tangible, almost pervasive, is the horror of a majestic creature’s inescapable destiny, turned into a florid choreography of dominance.

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Stewart has made an assured mess: a bleary, florid and sometimes lyrical film that could stand to be doused by a bucket of ice water.

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Related Words

• baroque 
• decorative 
• flamboyant 
• ornate 
• sonorous