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Synonyms

pansy

1 American  
[pan-zee] / ˈpæn zi /

noun

plural

pansies

  1. a violet, Viola tricolor hortensis, cultivated in many varieties, having richly and variously colored flowers.

  2. the flower of this plant.

  3. Slang.

    1. Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.

    2. Offensive. a weak, effeminate, and often cowardly man.

Pansy 2 American  
[pan-zee] / ˈpæn zi /

noun

  1. a female given name.

pansy British  
/ ˈpænzɪ /

noun

  1. any violaceous garden plant that is a variety of Viola tricolor, having flowers with rounded velvety petals, white, yellow, or purple in colour See also wild pansy

  2. slang an effeminate or homosexual man or boy

    1. a strong violet colour

    2. ( as adjective )

      a pansy carpet
"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

Etymology

Origin of pansy

First recorded in 1490–1500, and in 1930–35 pansy for def. 3; from Middle French pensée “pansy,” literally, “thought,” noun use of feminine of past participle of penser “to think,” from Latin pēnsāre “to weigh, consider”; pensive

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.

Helen Litchfield, secretary of the botany section at La Société Guernesiaise, said the team's efforts in propagating the dwarf pansy meant it was no longer at risk.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

My own are his pansy collages, tightly packed, edge-to-edge congeries of overlapping floral faces that give off a bright radiance as well as well as a sense of menacing, staring eyes.

From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2022

“There was even this period ‘the pansy craze’ where it was fashionable to have limp-wristed men in movies who may have been gay or trans or entirely outside that in movies.”

From The Guardian • Feb. 27, 2019

And some reassurance that my struggle is real, and that I’m not a weak pansy looking for an excuse for not living up to my potential.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 4, 2018

I shoveled dirt into the dump truck; then I drove the truck over to the flower bed and dumped dirt onto a purple pansy until I buried it.

From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli

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.