florid

[ flawr-id, flor- ]

/ ˈflɔr ɪd, ˈflɒr- /

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adjective

reddish; ruddy; rosy: a florid complexion.

flowery; excessively ornate; showy: florid writing.

Obsolete. abounding in or consisting of flowers.

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Nearby words

Origin of florid

1635–45; < Latin flōridus, equivalent to flōr(ēre) to bloom (see florescence) + -idus -id⁴

SYNONYMS FOR florid

2. flamboyant, grandiloquent, rococo; flash, gaudy.

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ANTONYMS FOR florid

1. pale. 2. plain, simple, unaffected.

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Related forms

flo·rid·i·ty

[flaw-rid-i-tee, fluh-] /flɔˈrɪd ɪ ti, flə-/, flor·id·ness, nounflor·id·ly, adverbo·ver·flor·id, adjectiveo·ver·flor·id·ly, adverb

o·ver·flor·id·ness, nounun·flor·id, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for florid

There are Halo novels, miniseries, and reams of florid fan-fiction.
David Fincher and Conan O’Brien: Halo 4’s Secret Weapons|Alex Klein|October 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The florid brushwork of a Constable gets hypertrophied in Freud, into a kind of gross exaggeration of what unleashed paint can do.
Lucian Freud, the Conservative Radical|Blake Gopnik|July 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST
He lacks the magisterial tone of Colm Tóibín or the florid and fertile imagination of Patrick McCabe.
Great Irish Adventures|Allen Barra|June 9, 2010|DAILY BEAST
A line of railings, covered with ironwork of a florid and intricate pattern, but greatly decayed, shut it off from the roadway.
The Blue Pavilions|Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

I have met scores who look as florid and rosy as any British squire who has never left his paternal beef and acres.
The Newcomes|William Makepeace Thackeray
The florid style is a mixture of affectation and common-place.
Hazlitt on English Literature|Jacob Zeitlin
In 45 and 90 Murphy quotes passages from Akenside with great approval, including one that is later parodied by Florid.
The Englishman from Paris|Arthur Murphy
At sight of the three visitors, Urim's florid countenance lighted up with pleasure; and half-rising, he called to them.
Warrior of the Dawn|Howard Carleton Browne

British Dictionary definitions for florid

florid

/ (ˈflɒrɪd) /

adjective

having a red or flushed complexion

excessively ornate; floweryflorid architecture

an archaic word for flowery

Derived Formsfloridity or floridness, nounfloridly, adverb

Word Origin for florid

C17: from Latin flōridus blooming

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for florid

florid

adj.

1640s, "strikingly beautiful," from French floride "flourishing," from Latin floridus "flowery, in bloom," from flos "flower" (see flora). Sense of "ruddy" is first recorded 1640s. Meaning "profusely adorned, as with flowers," is from 1650s. Related: Floridly.

Medicine definitions for florid

florid

[ flôr′ĭd ]

adj.

Of a bright red or ruddy color. Used of certain skin lesions.

Related formsflo•rid′i•ty (flə-rĭd′ĭ-tē, flô-) n.