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Flamboyant, which was borrowed into English from French in the 19th century, can be traced back to Old French flambe, meaning "flame." In its earliest uses flamboyant referred to a style of architecture, often in the florid French Gothic style, which featured waving curves that suggested flames. Eventually, the word developed a more general second sense for anything eye-catching or showy. And of course, Old French flambe is also the origin of the English adjective flambé.
Synonyms
Examples of flamboyant in a Sentence
Stephen Schiff, New Yorker, 28 Dec. 1992–4 Jan. 1993
Equally flamboyant is the group's singer, Andy Bell, who prances around the stage dressed at various times like an astronaut, a space creature or a Mexican senorita.
—Jim Farber, Video Review, August 1990
… he was living in the flamboyant, urbane manner he craved, in an apartment that suited his Balzacian fantasies of success …
—Raymond Sokolov, Wayward Reporter, 1980
the flamboyant gestures of the conductor
has a gallery of flamboyant gestures that makes him easy to imitate
Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 18 Apr. 2024
Her approach to getting dressed feels both classic yet new; refreshing but not too trendy, flamboyant yet still subtle.
—Maia Torres, Vogue, 11 Apr. 2024
Posing for group photos at the neon rainbow display in Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff candy shop with one of Disney’s more flamboyant characters has become an annual tradition during the unofficial Gay Days Anaheim mix-in event.
—Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register, 31 Jan. 2024
The first feature film ever about Kalari will follow 80-year-old martial arts legend Meenakshi Amma and her flamboyant students.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 7 Apr. 2024
Melissa Manchester, a game trouper, brings her flamboyant Bronx pedigree to the role of Mrs. Brice.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
The concept-car whisperer Bortz, a Chicago restaurateur who grew up riding streetcars to see the flamboyant concept cars that starred at auto shows and automakers’ private salons in the 1950s, began collecting historic concept cars in the 1980s.
—Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 4 Apr. 2024
Purim’s long-standing tradition of cross-dressing and flamboyant costumes has a rich history.
—Esther Brownsmith, The Conversation, 21 Mar. 2024
The announcement comes as tourists and revelers are pouring into Rio to take part in street parties and attend the samba schools’ flamboyant parades.
—Eléonore Hughes, Quartz, 8 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flamboyant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near flamboyant
Cite this Entry
“Flamboyant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flamboyant. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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