a violet, Viola tricolor hortensis, cultivated in many varieties, having richly and variously colored flowers.
the flower of this plant.
Slang.
Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.
Offensive. a weak, effeminate, and often cowardly man.
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
slang an effeminate or homosexual man or boy
a strong violet colour
( as adjective )
a pansy carpet
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”; see pensive
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
“Tucking in the plants for a winter snooze and watching grow winter flowers like primrose and pansy and cyclamen come to life.”
From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2021
“We had a bright orange, leopard pansy print, which did brilliantly last season, but we wondered whether you might feel a bit brash wearing it at home,” Cameron says.
From The Guardian • Sep. 25, 2020
A thin silver chain with a small pendant, a silver pansy.
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
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.
