flourish
Americanverb (used without object)
-
flourishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flourished,
past participle, past
-
flourishing
present participle
-
to be in a vigorous state; thrive.
a period in which art flourished.
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to be in its or in one's prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.
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to be successful; prosper.
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to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant.
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to make dramatic, sweeping gestures.
Flourish more when you act out the king's great death scene.
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to add embellishments and ornamental lines to writing, letters, etc.
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to sound a trumpet call or fanfare.
verb (used with object)
-
flourishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flourished,
past participle, past
-
flourishing
present participle
-
to brandish dramatically; gesticulate with.
a conductor flourishing his baton for the crescendo.
-
to decorate or embellish (writing, a page of script, etc.) with sweeping or fanciful curves or lines.
- Synonyms:
- ornament
noun
-
flourishes
plural
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an act or instance of brandishing.
-
an ostentatious display.
-
a decoration or embellishment, especially in writing.
He added a few flourishes to his signature.
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Rhetoric. a parade of fine language; an expression used merely for effect.
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a trumpet call or fanfare.
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a condition or period of thriving.
in full flourish.
verb
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(intr) to thrive; prosper
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(intr) to be at the peak of condition
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(intr) to be healthy
plants flourish in the light
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to wave or cause to wave in the air with sweeping strokes
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to display or make a display
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to play (a fanfare, etc) on a musical instrument
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(intr) to embellish writing, characters, etc, with ornamental strokes
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to add decorations or embellishments to (speech or writing)
-
(intr) an obsolete word for blossom
noun
-
the act of waving or brandishing
-
a showy gesture
he entered with a flourish
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an ornamental embellishment in writing
-
a display of ornamental language or speech
-
a grandiose passage of music
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an ostentatious display or parade
-
obsolete
-
the state of flourishing
-
the state of flowering
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Synonym Usage
See succeed.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
flourishsimple
-
flourishessimple
-
have flourishedperfect
-
has flourishedperfect
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am flourishingprogressive
-
are flourishingprogressive
-
is flourishingprogressive
-
have been flourishingperfect progressive
-
has been flourishingperfect progressive
Past
-
flourishedsimple
-
had flourishedperfect
-
was flourishingprogressive
-
were flourishingprogressive
-
had been flourishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flourish
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English florisshen, from Middle French floriss-, long stem of florir, ultimately from Latin flōrēre “to bloom,” derivative of flōs flower
Explanation
A flourish is an extra touch — a trumpet's "ta-ta-da!" announcing a king's entrance, a fancy carving atop an otherwise utilitarian pillar, a wave of a flag or a cheerleader's pompom. Flourish can also mean "growth": "With the right teacher, a child will flourish." To understand how the two meanings of flourish connect, remember that the word "flower" (spelled flour-) is hiding inside it. Flowers are used for decoration and ornamentation, but they also grow. Get it? Good for you! Imagine a cheerleader shouting out your name, flourishing her pom-poms.
Vocabulary lists containing flourish
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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:
Follow her along as she takes you inside Taiwan’s temples, where decades of separation from China have allowed faith and folk traditions to flourish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
Raphi Bloom, chair of the Yom Kippur Commemoration, said the service was "not only about remembrance" but was also about resilience and "honouring Melvin and Adrian by ensuring that Jewish life continues to flourish".
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
"They could easily have moved those trams and helped the city flourish during its Fringe which puts Edinburgh on the world stage in August," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
The influx of investment and dedicated citizenry has helped the San Gabriel Valley suburb flourish economically and culturally, earning it the nickname the “Chinese Beverly Hills.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
When they emerged into the far corner of the store, he gestured with a flourish.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
The hope is that those salaries will be bigger—that artificial intelligence delivers on promised productivity gains, that a large portion of those flow into higher pay, and spending flourishes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Johnson has apparently instituted a number of USA-style flourishes into the program.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
The piece foreshadows Saar’s penchant for transforming common items into near-mystical objects with seemingly simple flourishes that belie complex themes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Even the song Rock Music is full of manipulated vocals and electronic flourishes.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Vincent's painting flourishes with the warm weather, growing and changing as Arles fills with blossoming trees.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
"Stromatolites could be more than 'just' a cradle of life where early microbial life flourished," says A/Prof. Burns.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
During the wet spring, she said, undergrowth flourished, leaving an enormous layer of tinder once heat waves took hold in June.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
The handicraft flourished in Srinagar and later spread to other towns and villages across Indian-administered Kashmir.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
The treks flourished throughout the Middle Ages, faded, then rebounded from a niche spiritual journey to a global escape hatch; in 2025, the pilgrim office handed out 530,000 certificates of completion, or compostelas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
The heavy charms on Sydelle Pulaski's bracelet clinked and clunked as she raised a full fork and flourished it in a practiced ritual before aiming it at her open mouth.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
When people are free to pursue better lives, flourishing follows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
It can also help reconstruct the ecology of early Paleozoic oceans, when crinoids were among many early animal groups flourishing in reef ecosystems.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Both are flourishing and show what a little freedom can do.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
He ended decades of political dominance by dynastic parties and envisioned a national welfare state modelled on the Islamic golden age of the seventh to 14th centuries, a flourishing period in the Muslim world.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
This was at a time when the whole region of Tuscany, and Florence and Pisa in particular, was flourishing in the Renaissance.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions 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.
