flowers
noun
praise, awards, respect, money, recognition, etc. given to someone to honor them
What does flowers mean?
Flowers refers to praise, awards, respect, money, recognition, etc. given to someone to honor them (as for their success or achievements).
Examples of flowers
Less than a minute later, the 2018 first-round draft pick was at the free throw line as those chants of “M-V-P” rained down from the rafters. “I’m thankful that our fans continue to recognize her greatness,” [Coach, Stephanie] White said. “She’s finally getting her flowers.”
—Brian Haenchen, The Indianapolis Star, 29 Sept. 2025
She’s [Chappell Roan] just getting her flowers kinda recently.”
—Jerry Lynn’s a guy that was very helpful to me during a period of my career, and he's very smart, and I feel like he never really got his flowers for how talented he was in the ring, and maybe honestly he never got his flowers financially either. He’s a fantastic wrestler …
—“She cobbled together all the pieces that remained and made a beautiful life,” [Marie] Sutton said of her grandmother. “To give her her flowers, it means so much to me because she deserves it.”
—[Claressa] Shields said, that despite her past success, she remains as motivated as ever to prove her dominance. … “It ain’t enough,” Shields said. “I didn’t get my flowers for so many years that even when I get them now, it’s like, ‘That's not enough, I deserve more than that.’”
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Where does flowers come from?
This use of flowers comes from an old, variable adage along the lines of “give people their flowers while they live/can still smell them/etc.” In other words, “don’t wait until it’s too late to tell someone what they mean to you.”
Their work is well done and the credit we’ll give / And hand them their flowers while they live …
—In other words, give them their flowers while they are living; don’t wait until they have gone to the great beyond.
—“Give him his flowers while he can now smell them,” implored Johnnie Townsend, the school librarian.
—We had the opportunity to recognize the contributions of many senior citizens and give them their flowers while we could smell them. We honored two persons from his building.
—“I just love to see my father receiving his flowers while he could smell ‘em ... and his story be told to a younger generation, so they’d be able to learn about the history of the blues and keep it alive.”
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How is flowers used?
Flowers is often used in phrases such as get one’s flowers, but other phrasings abound.
The manager had been receiving his flowers as of late—winning will do that. His three World Cup victories are the most of any US men's head coach.
—‘These ladies deserve their flowers. They deserve their respect,’ the singer [AJ McClean] said in a social media video …
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