Word of the Day
: June 17, 2019flounce
playWhat It Means
1 a : to move with exaggerated jerky or bouncy motions
b : to go with sudden determination
flounce in Context
"With skirts flouncing, 15 young women ascended the steps … to a traditional Mexican birthday song played in a mariachi style." — Laurel Wamsley and Vanessa Romo, NPR, 19 July 2017
"The Master of the Music flounced out with the choir flouncing out in perfect unison behind him." — Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals, 2009
Did You Know?
The story behind flounce is an elusive one. The verb's earliest recorded uses in English occurred in the mid-1500s, and some scholars believe it is related to the Norwegian verb flunsa (meaning "to hurry" or "to work briskly") and Swedish flunsa ("to fall with a splash" or "to plunge"). The connection is uncertain, however, because the flunsa verbs did not appear in their respective languages until the 18th century, long after flounce surfaced in English. A second distinct sense of flounce, referring to a strip or ruffle of fabric attached on one edge, did not appear in English until the 18th century. This flounce derives from the Middle English frouncen, meaning "to curl."
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Name That Synonym
What 5-letter verb beginning with "w" is a synonym of flounce and can also mean "to advance easily and successfully through something"?
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