flounce

¹ American  

[flouns] / flaʊns /

verb (used without object)

flounced, flouncing

1. to go with impatient or impetuous, exaggerated movements.

   The star flounced out of the studio in a rage.

   Synonyms:

   bounce, prance, bound, storm

2. to throw the body about spasmodically; flounder.

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noun

1. an act or instance of flouncing; a flouncing movement.

flounce ² American  

[flouns] / flaʊns /

noun

1. a strip of material gathered or pleated and attached at one edge, with the other edge left loose or hanging: used for trimming, as on the edge of a skirt or sleeve or on a curtain, slipcover, etc.

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verb (used with object)

flounced, flouncing

1. to trim with flounces.

flounce ¹ British  

/ flaʊns /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by about, away, out, etc) to move or go with emphatic or impatient movements

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noun

1. the act of flouncing

flounce ² British  

/ flaʊns /

noun

1. an ornamental gathered ruffle sewn to a garment by its top edge

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flounce flounced flouncing

For fall, diaphanous tiers of 1970s flounce in almost angelically light hues defined the show’s aesthetic inside a brutalist warehouse space.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024

She’s wearing the same flounce garment seen in the image of Enheduanna on the disk found in 1927, and has the same aquiline features.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2022

The Hollywood Reporter's Robyn Bahr agreed that "the flounce and fizziness of the original series are largely absent from this moodier and more self-serious one".

From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2021

One morning, their mother asked Nelson to wear her loveliest dress, a dark frock with a flounce at the bottom, and then piled her and Cook into the landlord’s car while he drove.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2020

She is tucked into a pretty blue frock with a big flounce in the back.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

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

The self-confident Mr Lindner overplayed his hand four years ago, and was accused of shirking responsibility when he flounced out of coalition talks.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2021

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

In vintage footage from Hot Peaches shows, Wilhelmina shimmers in flounced white sateen as “drag queen superstar Belladella Bosom”, purring “I’m not a woman, I’m not a man, it’s my own game”.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 8, 2020

He beat at the net with his wings and flounced all over the place.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

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

The team are still confident there will be no flouncing.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 10, 2017

Mine were in tatters long before he came flouncing onstage for the last time, having been shredded by the comic banality of most of the material.

From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2013

The door opened and Darlene came in wearing a satin cocktail dress and a flowered hat, flouncing her skirt gracefully as she walked.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole