florid

adjective

flor·​id ˈflȯr-əd 

ˈflär-

1

a

: very flowery in style : ornate

florid prose

florid declamations

also : having a florid style

a florid writer

b

: elaborately decorated

a florid interior

c

obsolete : covered with flowers

2

a

: tinged with red : ruddy

a florid complexion

b

: marked by emotional or sexual fervor

a florid secret life

a florid sensibility

3

: fully developed : manifesting a complete and typical clinical syndrome

the florid stage of a disease

4

archaic : healthy

floridity

flə-ˈri-də-tē 

flȯ-

noun

floridly

ˈflȯr-əd-lē 

ˈflär-

adverb

floridness

ˈflȯr-əd-nəs 

ˈflär-

noun

Did you know?

When it first entered English "florid" was used with the literal meaning "covered with flowers." That use, though now obsolete, hints at the word's history. English speakers borrowed "florid" from the Latin adjective floridus ("blooming" or "flowery"), itself from the verb "florēre" ("to bloom"). "Florēre," which in turn comes from a Latin root meaning "flower," is also an ancestor of the words "flourish" and "florescence" ("a state or period of flourishing"). These days, "florid" can refer to an overblown style in speech, writing, or decoration. As such, its synonyms include "ornate," "rococo," and "overwrought."

Synonyms

• bedizened
• fussy
• gingerbread
• gingerbreaded
• gingerbready
• ornate
• overdecorated
• overwrought

Examples of florid in a Sentence

a florid, gilded mirror that took up most of the wall

gave a florid speech in honor of the queen's visit

Recent Examples on the Web

Only the incredibly florid, practically unpronounceable names have changed. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 16 Nov. 2023

What Nabokov describes in his typically florid style, without naming it, is the fermata. —Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 9 Sep. 2023

Still, the florid dialogue is unmistakably McCarthy. —Sophia Nguyen, Washington Post, 13 June 2023

Browne was inside in an airy rehearsal room with florid crown moldings and softly glowing globe lights. —Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2023

The ethical axis contrasts Ephraim’s rigid Protestant moralism and austerity with Nicholas’s arrogant amorality, which is given a florid, quasi-Nietzschean or even Randian tinge. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2023

The ceiling medallions are original and typical of the Néo-Grec style of decorating, with incisions that are more abstract than the florid carvings of earlier Italianate homes. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 13 July 2023

The Green Party running Amsterdam makes a lot of florid statements, but the city has no composting program, earns a mediocre score for its tree canopy, and aggressively pursues development. —Kate Brown, Washington Post, 26 June 2023

That percussive figure maintains a rhythmic foundation that prompts Hasaan to cut loose with crystalline, florid barrages of high notes in shifting forms and meters that cascade and swirl and swarm in ever more daringly chromatic and far-reaching harmonies. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 31 Dec. 2021

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Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin flōridus "abounding in flowers, brightly colored, in the bloom of youth, highly colored (of rhetoric)," adjective derivative, with the suffix -idus, corresponding to flōrēre "to bloom" — more at florescence

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined at sense 1c

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Kids Definition

florid

adjective

flor·​id ˈflȯr-əd 

ˈflär-

1

: flowery sense 2, ornate

florid writing

2

: tinged with red : ruddy

a florid complexion

floridly adverb

Etymology

from Latin floridus "blooming, flowery," from florēre "to blossom, flourish," from flor-, flos "a flower, blossom" — related to flour, flourish, flower

Medical Definition

florid

adjective

flor·​id ˈflȯr-əd, ˈflär- 

: fully developed : manifesting a complete and typical clinical syndrome

florid hyperplasia

floridly adverb