flounce
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
verb
noun
noun
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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing flounce
Bridge to Terabithia
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I, Robot
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Darius the Great Is Not Okay
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We've seen Cristiano Ronaldo flounce his way out of Hampden.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 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 the Bourse de la Commence, a finely tailored business-like jacket filed by above a gray skirt with a flounce cut on the bias.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2021
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
After stranding runners in scoring position in each of his first three innings, Miller flexed, fist-pumped and flounced his way off the rubber.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2023
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
He finally flounced out of the room with her looking daggers in his back.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2020
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
It fine’ly dawned on her he wasn’t go’n let her play agin, and she jumped up and flounced out.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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
"Rather than flouncing off", said Mr Hussain, the judge showed humour and "embraced" the fluffy intruder.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2021
There was no pivotal moment of creative difference, no storming or flouncing out.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
