flamingo

noun

fla·​min·​go flə-ˈmiŋ-(ˌ)gō 

plural flamingos also flamingoes

: any of several large aquatic birds (family Phoenicopteridae) with long legs and neck, webbed feet, a broad lamellate bill resembling that of a duck but abruptly bent downward, and usually rosy-white plumage with scarlet wing coverts and black wing quills

Illustration of flamingo

Examples of flamingo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The pair also spoke at some length about the power of and their mutual affection for the salmon shade of pink — not flamingo, not coral, not watermelon, but salmon — which dominates both the clothing and the album artwork. —Jem Aswad, Variety, 9 Apr. 2025

Choose from black, gray, or an eye-catching flamingo pink. —Miles Walls, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Apr. 2025

The series will travel to see elephants in Borneo navigating treacherous floodwaters, wombats in Australia with fires raging around them, a leopard in Zambia’s Lower Zambezi struggling with a brutal drought and Caribbean flamingos in Mexico facing up to the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025

Inflatable flamingos and waving flags whizzed by and clouds of marijuana smoke thickened. —Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

obsolete Spanish flamengo (now flamenco), literally, Fleming, German (conventionally thought of as ruddy-complexioned)

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flamingo

• bingo
• dingo
• gringo
• lingo

Kids Definition

flamingo

noun

fla·​min·​go flə-ˈmiŋ-gō 

plural flamingos also flamingoes

: any of several rosy-white birds with scarlet wings, a very long neck and legs, and a broad bill bent down at the end that are often found wading in shallow water

Etymology

from Portuguese flamingo "flamingo," from Spanish flamenco "flamingo," derived from Latin flamma "flame"; so called from the fiery red feathers on the underside of the wings