flourish
to be in a vigorous state; thrive: a period in which art flourished.
to be in its or in one's prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.
to be successful; prosper.
to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant.
to make dramatic, sweeping gestures: Flourish more when you act out the king's great death scene.
to add embellishments and ornamental lines to writing, letters, etc.
to sound a trumpet call or fanfare.
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.
an act or instance of brandishing.
an ostentatious display.
a decoration or embellishment, especially in writing: He added a few flourishes to his signature.
Rhetoric. a parade of fine language; an expression used merely for effect.
a trumpet call or fanfare.
a condition or period of thriving: in full flourish.
Origin of flourish
1synonym study For flourish
Other words for flourish
Opposites for flourish
Other words from flourish
- flour·ish·er, noun
- outflourish, verb (used with object)
Words Nearby flourish
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use flourish in a sentence
Tatel’s writing is sparse and not prone to rhetorical flourishes.
We will not even speak of lattices and other decorative flourishes.
America forgot how to make proper pie. Can we remember before it’s too late? | Megan McArdle | July 1, 2021 | Washington PostThe 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.
Best Nintendo Switch games for graphics: The titles that justify jumping to the big screen | Billy Cadden | June 20, 2021 | Popular-ScienceIn 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.
Actors in documentaries used to be taboo. Now they’re the stars. | Ann Hornaday | March 25, 2021 | Washington PostRoasted red peppers and an orange shellfish emulsion lend color to the classic, which is staged in a blue bowl for even more flourish.
Glover Park Grill woos its neighborhood with all-American cooking | Tom Sietsema | March 12, 2021 | Washington Post
More: He derives genuine pleasure from watching something he created flourish.
The Stacks: The Eyes of Winter: Paul Newman at 70 | Peter Richmond | October 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHer father gazes back at her happily, tips his hat, and bows with a flourish.
Knocking on Heaven's Door: True Stories of Unexplained, Uncanny Experiences at the Hour of Death | Patricia Pearson | August 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe has a lean, crackling energy about him, a sense of dramatic flourish, a resonant voice that is not unaware of its own music.
Nigeria’s Larger-Than-Life Nobel Laureate Chronicles a Fascinating Life | Chimamanda Adichie | August 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis 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.
Jazz (The Music of Coffee and Donuts) Has Respect, But It Needs Love | Ted Gioia | June 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn such conditions many kinds which do not flourish very freely in the open garden, grow into handsome specimens.
How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard BastinHe bowed, with a flourish of his plumed hat, and would with that have taken his departure but that the Seneschal stayed him.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniVirginia leaf still continues to flourish, and to-day it is the great agricultural product of the State.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.That is, the number of them cut short, and reduced to few, shall flourish in abundance of justice.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousSocialism, like every other impassioned human effort, will flourish best under martyrdom.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen Leacock
British Dictionary definitions for flourish
/ (ˈflʌrɪʃ) /
(intr) to thrive; prosper
(intr) to be at the peak of condition
(intr) to be healthy: plants flourish in the light
to wave or cause to wave in the air with sweeping strokes
to display or make a display
to play (a fanfare, etc) on a musical instrument
(intr) to embellish writing, characters, etc, with ornamental strokes
to add decorations or embellishments to (speech or writing)
(intr) an obsolete word for blossom
the act of waving or brandishing
a showy gesture: he entered with a flourish
an ornamental embellishment in writing
a display of ornamental language or speech
a grandiose passage of music
an ostentatious display or parade
obsolete
the state of flourishing
the state of flowering
Origin of flourish
1Derived forms of flourish
- flourisher, noun
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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