flounce

¹ American  

[flauns] / flaʊns /

verb (used without object)

flounced, flouncing

1. to go with impatient or impetuous, exaggerated movements.

   The star flounced out of the studio in a rage.

   Synonyms:

   bounce, prance, bound, storm

2. to throw the body about spasmodically; flounder.

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noun

1. an act or instance of flouncing; a flouncing movement.

flounce ² American  

[flauns] / flaʊns /

noun

1. a strip of material gathered or pleated and attached at one edge, with the other edge left loose or hanging: used for trimming, as on the edge of a skirt or sleeve or on a curtain, slipcover, etc.

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verb (used with object)

flounced, flouncing

1. to trim with flounces.

flounce ¹ British  

/ flaʊns /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by about, away, out, etc) to move or go with emphatic or impatient movements

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noun

1. the act of flouncing

flounce ² British  

/ flaʊns /

noun

1. an ornamental gathered ruffle sewn to a garment by its top edge

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Usage

What else does flounce mean? The internet slang term flounce means "to leave an online group in a dramatic manner," and may or may not involve burning a few bridges or stirring the pot on the way out.

Etymology

Origin of flounce¹

1535–45; of obscure origin; perhaps akin to Norwegian flunsa to hurry

Origin of flounce²

First recorded in 1665–75; alteration of obsolete frounce wrinkle

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Explanation

To flounce is to move in an exaggerated, emphatic way, especially if your movement expresses anger or impatience. A young child who doesn't like what's for dinner might stand up and flounce away from the table. If you feel you've been misunderstood, you might need to stifle the urge to flounce off in a huff — it's more mature to stay and try to explain yourself. Flounce is also a noun, meaning both the action of flouncing and a ruffle: "I'll make this dress look fancier by sewing a flounce on the bottom." The huffy movement meaning came first, possibly from a Scandinavian source.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flounce flounced flouncing

We've seen Cristiano Ronaldo flounce his way out of Hampden.

From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2024

For fall, diaphanous tiers of 1970s flounce in almost angelically light hues defined the show’s aesthetic inside a brutalist warehouse space.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024

Only a generation ago, some gardener-critics thought them lacking in elegance and refinement, too conspicuous in their flounce.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 15, 2022

In photo shoots, they wore outfits with a Baroque flounce: blazers and ruffled shirts, ascots and sleeve garters.

From New York Times ● Sep. 27, 2020

She shrugged and walked over to my couch, where she sat down in a flounce of her retro circle skirt, putting her wedge-clad feet on my coffee table.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

While she spoke animatedly from a green room couch, Day’s bubblegum pink off-shoulder tee and baggy white pants repeatedly flounced out and then resettled in new shapes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026

A few months later, he quietly crawled back to Twitter and starting posting again, never acknowledging that he had flounced away in righteous indignation.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2021

Goldwater girls, dressed in sombreros and tasseled boots, flounced around while California delegates holding helium-filled, gold-colored balloons waved a large Bear Flag.

From Slate ● May 12, 2016

I would have said “no one’s pressuring me,” as I flounced along to Stringfellows if that’s where the party went.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 23, 2016

“Speak for yourself,” she said crossly, and flounced to the door, pushing the perambulator so fiercely that it bumped into a bag of oysters.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers

Oh sure, Paul Lynde and Liberace were flouncing on television; closer to home, a boy I kept my distance from decoupaged his notebooks.

From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2024

Manuel Puig’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is perhaps best known in the U.S. as the film that won William Hurt an Oscar for flouncing around a prison cell in a kimono.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2023

Nemec recognizes this, to some degree, by only mentioning a central figure from the anime who is basically a flailing, flouncing mess of childish squeaks and quirks.

From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2021

The girl was timid with strangers, but exuberant at home – playing practical jokes, haranguing her parents with mock political speeches or flouncing around in her ballet costumes.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 2, 2016

My first thought was that the yellow ring had gotten tangled in a bush, and while the monkeys were flouncing and dragging the net over the ground, the net had opened.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

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