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View synonyms for flourish

flourish

[ flur-ish, fluhr- ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to be in a vigorous state; thrive:

    a period in which art flourished.

    Synonyms: increase, grow

    Antonyms: decline, fade

  2. to be in its or in one's prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.
  3. to be successful; prosper.
  4. to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant.
  5. to make dramatic, sweeping gestures:

    Flourish more when you act out the king's great death scene.

  6. to add embellishments and ornamental lines to writing, letters, etc.
  7. to sound a trumpet call or fanfare.


verb (used with object)

  1. to brandish dramatically; gesticulate with:

    a conductor flourishing his baton for the crescendo.

  2. to decorate or embellish (writing, a page of script, etc.) with sweeping or fanciful curves or lines.

    Synonyms: ornament

noun

  1. an act or instance of brandishing.
  2. an ostentatious display.
  3. a decoration or embellishment, especially in writing:

    He added a few flourishes to his signature.

    Synonyms: adornment, ornament

  4. Rhetoric. a parade of fine language; an expression used merely for effect.
  5. a trumpet call or fanfare.
  6. a condition or period of thriving:

    in full flourish.

flourish

/ ˈflʌrɪʃ /

verb

  1. intr to thrive; prosper
  2. intr to be at the peak of condition
  3. intr to be healthy

    plants flourish in the light

  4. to wave or cause to wave in the air with sweeping strokes
  5. to display or make a display
  6. to play (a fanfare, etc) on a musical instrument
  7. intr to embellish writing, characters, etc, with ornamental strokes
  8. to add decorations or embellishments to (speech or writing)
  9. intr an obsolete word for blossom
“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


noun

  1. the act of waving or brandishing
  2. a showy gesture

    he entered with a flourish

  3. an ornamental embellishment in writing
  4. a display of ornamental language or speech
  5. a grandiose passage of music
  6. an ostentatious display or parade
  7. obsolete.
    1. the state of flourishing
    2. the state of flowering
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈflourisher, noun
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Other Words From

  • flourish·er noun
  • outflourish verb (used with object)
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Word History and Origins

Origin of flourish1

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of flourish1

C13: from Old French florir , ultimately from Latin flōrēre to flower, from flōs a flower
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Synonym Study

See succeed.
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Example Sentences

Tatel’s writing is sparse and not prone to rhetorical flourishes.

We will not even speak of lattices and other decorative flourishes.

The Switch does not lack visual innovation or artistic flourishes necessary to create inarguably beautiful games whose visuals fully justify playing them on a really big-screen TV.

In fact it was just those flourishes — seen as revolutionary at the time — that reportedly turned off old-school members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ documentary branch.

Roasted red peppers and an orange shellfish emulsion lend color to the classic, which is staged in a blue bowl for even more flourish.

More: He derives genuine pleasure from watching something he created flourish.

Her father gazes back at her happily, tips his hat, and bows with a flourish.

He has a lean, crackling energy about him, a sense of dramatic flourish, a resonant voice that is not unaware of its own music.

This fact was revealed with a flourish during a Life Lesson on the importance of discretion, which is a story for another day.

Jazz festivals flourish by tapping into this allure of jazz—but increasingly fill their stages with artists from other genres.

In such conditions many kinds which do not flourish very freely in the open garden, grow into handsome specimens.

He bowed, with a flourish of his plumed hat, and would with that have taken his departure but that the Seneschal stayed him.

Virginia leaf still continues to flourish, and to-day it is the great agricultural product of the State.

That is, the number of them cut short, and reduced to few, shall flourish in abundance of justice.

Socialism, like every other impassioned human effort, will flourish best under martyrdom.

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