any plant of the genus Primula, as P. vulgaris English primrose, of Europe, having yellow flowers, or P. sinensis Chinese primrose, of China, having flowers in a variety of colors.
pale yellow.
of or relating to the primrose.
Also primrosed abounding in primroses.
a primrose garden.
of a pale yellow.
any of various temperate primulaceous plants of the genus Primula, esp P. vulgaris of Europe, which has pale yellow flowers
short for evening primrose
Also called: primrose yellow. a light to moderate yellow, sometimes with a greenish tinge
of, relating to, or abounding in primroses
of the colour primrose
pleasant or gay
1375–1425; late Middle English primerose < Medieval Latin prīma rosa first rose
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"You can't argue with a primrose, they're absolutely glorious... red campions will flower all year round, and they are just so beneficial to all sorts of insects and wildlife," she said.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026
Desert gold and brown-eyed primrose are appearing near Ashford Mill, along with sand verbena and fivespot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2026
At field sites in eastern Washington, the researchers collected scent samples from pale evening primrose flowers.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 8, 2024
Everything from the primrose to the milkweed to the Echinacea purpurea, is allowed to flourish.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 20, 2023
“Thank you, Crystal,” I say and stuff it in my pouch along with the primrose.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
The Lescoulies’ cows were in Venice; a Mr. Martin kept his on Primrose Avenue in Hollywood, where the early farmhouse was lately priced at about $2 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
The pair, who were there separately, were part of a crowd gathered on Primrose Hill to watch fireworks over the River Thames.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2025
Filmed in the UK heatwave of 2022, Last Swim takes Ziba and her group of friends through well-known spots of London such as Portobello Road, Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill by car, bike and train.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2025
In response, Airbnb tells the BBC it has not disclosed the location of the house and is making a “sizeable donation” to the Primrose Hill Community Association.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2024
In the week’s holiday after preliminary training, before the probationer year began, she had stayed with her uncle and aunt in Primrose Hill and had resisted her mother on the telephone.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
After the long British winter, creamy primroses and pink campions push out from the banks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
I have fond memories of the woods in Sussex, where I grew up, filling with primroses early in the year and carpeted with bluebells in the spring.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025
The metal base would include a glass mosaic depicting yellow primroses on stems with leaves of many shades of green.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2023
Evening primroses are thin and crinkled with a tissue-like texture, which is one of my favorite textures to incorporate in my work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2022
As we follow the meadow down the last steep slope of the mountain range, I see a patch of evening primroses near a stone fence.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
