flourish
Americanverb (used without object)
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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)
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to brandish dramatically; gesticulate with.
a conductor flourishing his baton for the crescendo.
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to decorate or embellish (writing, a page of script, etc.) with sweeping or fanciful curves or lines.
- Synonyms:
- ornament
noun
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an act or instance of brandishing.
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an ostentatious display.
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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)
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(intr) an obsolete word for blossom
noun
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the act of waving or brandishing
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a showy gesture
he entered with a flourish
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an ornamental embellishment in writing
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a display of ornamental language or speech
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a grandiose passage of music
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an ostentatious display or parade
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obsolete
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the state of flourishing
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the state of flowering
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Synonym Usage
See succeed.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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flourishsimple
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flourishessimple
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have flourishedperfect
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has flourishedperfect
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am flourishingprogressive
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are flourishingprogressive
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is flourishingprogressive
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have been flourishingperfect progressive
-
has been flourishingperfect progressive
Past
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flourishedsimple
-
had flourishedperfect
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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:
“Everywhere you turn, there’s a flourish, a nuance, a detail. There’s a bold statement that makes you sit and contemplate.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
From the capital, the thinking goes, it's easy to think that if we can make Britain work, then each community will flourish.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
You could spoon it on instead, of course, but piping the ricotta creates exactly the kind of unnecessary flourish brunch deserves.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
The combination also changed the community's internal balance by allowing some bacterial species to flourish while others declined.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
And safe at the heart of its deep mystery, the tree would flourish, forever secure.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Likewise, Paris Fashion Week isn’t known to feature designers whose collections can be worn off the rack, instead showcasing works of great sartorial ambition, with severe silhouettes and playful flourishes alike.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
In the mango-growing heartland of Tando Allahyar, Mohammad Shakeel manages orchards that grow the golden-yellow Sindhri variety, named after the province where it flourishes and famous for its rich flavour and juicy pulp.
From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026
Stand out in a sea of stretchy polos and soulless chinos with attire that marries the look of nostalgic golf style with modern flourishes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
With flourishes of Spanish guitar, it's solidly constructed but fails to connect emotionally.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
The ceiling is painted in more ornamental flourishes.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
One of the attackers who helped Argentina overcome England in their semi-final, Alvarez has flourished at Atletico Madrid since his 2024 move from Manchester City.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
France and Morocco moved on Thursday to strengthen a renewed partnership that has flourished over the past two years, with French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu hailing "exceptionally positive" ties in Rabat.
From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026
The marine animals that flourished afterward were generally much more active.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
Their businesses have flourished in a compute-constrained environment with a seemingly insatiable demand for capacity.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
For these are the last remaining members of a race that flourished over four continents as far back in geologic time as the upper Jurassic period.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Catholic missionaries arrived, too, and with them came the flourishing of religious art used to inspire and convert the native peoples.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The only real question is whether that transformation is imposed on us for the benefit of a tiny ownership class, or created in partnership with us, as a genuine expansion of shared human flourishing.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
Dropped deep to release Madueke and that looks to be a flourishing partnership.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
The “Tesla Takedown” protests of 2025 contributed to a deep slump in the company’s once flourishing car sales and overall revenue that’s persisted into this year.
From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026
At the most obvious level, these numbers confirmed with enhanced precision the self-evident reality that slavery was a sectional phenomenon that was dying out in the North and flourishing in the South.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
