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flamboyant

 - 5 dictionary results

flam⋅boy⋅ant

  [flam-boi-uhnt]
Use flamboyant in a Sentence
–adjective
1. strikingly bold or brilliant; showy: flamboyant colors.
2. conspicuously dashing and colorful: the flamboyant idol of international society.
3. florid; ornate; elaborately styled: flamboyant speeches.
4. Architecture.
a. having the form of an ogee, as a bar of tracery.
b. noting or pertaining to French Gothic architecture of the late 15th and early and middle 16th centuries, characterized by the use of flamboyant tracery, intricacy of detailing, virtuosity of workmanship, attenuation of parts, and frequent complication of interior space.
–noun
5. royal poinciana.
Origin:
1825–35; < F, prp. of flamboyer to flame, flair, deriv. of OF flambe flame; see -ant

Related forms:
flam⋅boy⋅ance, flam⋅boy⋅an⋅cy, noun
flam⋅boy⋅ant⋅ly, adverb

royal poinciana

 
–noun
a tree, Delonix regia, of the legume family, native to Madagascar, having showy clusters of brilliant scarlet flowers and long, flat, woody pods.
Also called flamboyant, flame tree.

Origin:
1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To flamboyant
flam·boy·ant   (flām-boi'ənt)   
adj.  

  1. Highly elaborate; ornate.

  2. Richly colored; resplendent.

  3. Architecture Of, relating to, or having wavy lines and flamelike forms characteristic of 15th- and 16th-century French Gothic architecture.

  4. Given to ostentatious or audacious display. See Synonyms at showy.

n.  See royal poinciana.

[French, from Old French, present participle of flamboyer, to blaze, from flambe, flame; see flame.]
flam·boy'ance, flam·boy'an·cy n., flam·boy'ant·ly adv.
royal poinciana  
n.  A tropical and semitropical tree (Delonix regia) native to Madagascar, having bipinnately compound leaves, clusters of large scarlet flowers, and long pods. Also called flamboyant, poinciana.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

flamboyant 
1832, first used of a 15c.-16c. architectural style with flame-like curves, from Fr. flamboyant "flaming, wavy," prp. of flamboyer "to flame," from O.Fr. flamboier, from flambe "flame." Extended sense of "showy, ornate" is 1879.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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