flam·boy·ant
flam-ˈbȯi-ənt 
1
: marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behavior
a flamboyant performer
2
often capitalized
: characterized by waving curves suggesting flames
flamboyant tracery
flamboyant architecture
flamboyantly
adverb
Did you know?
Flamboyant, which was borrowed into English from French in the 19th century, can be traced back to Old French flambe, meaning "flame." In its earliest uses flamboyant referred to a style of architecture, often in the florid French Gothic style, which featured waving curves that suggested flames. Eventually, the word developed a more general second sense for anything eye-catching or showy. And of course, Old French flambe is also the origin of the English adjective flambé.
Synonyms
Examples of flamboyant in a Sentence
Adjective
Crazy artists, or flamboyant ones, can be strangely comforting. We feel we understand where their visions come from; we're lulled by the symmetry of turbulent art and turbulent lives.
—
Stephen Schiff, New Yorker, 28 Dec. 1992–4 Jan. 1993
Equally flamboyant is the group's singer, Andy Bell, who prances around the stage dressed at various times like an astronaut, a space creature or a Mexican senorita.
—Jim Farber, Video Review, August 1990
… he was living in the flamboyant, urbane manner he craved, in an apartment that suited his Balzacian fantasies of success …
—Raymond Sokolov, Wayward Reporter, 1980
the flamboyant gestures of the conductor
has a gallery of flamboyant gestures that makes him easy to imitate
Stephen Schiff, New Yorker, 28 Dec. 1992–4 Jan. 1993
Equally flamboyant is the group's singer, Andy Bell, who prances around the stage dressed at various times like an astronaut, a space creature or a Mexican senorita.
—Jim Farber, Video Review, August 1990
… he was living in the flamboyant, urbane manner he craved, in an apartment that suited his Balzacian fantasies of success …
—Raymond Sokolov, Wayward Reporter, 1980
the flamboyant gestures of the conductor
has a gallery of flamboyant gestures that makes him easy to imitate
Recent Examples on the Web
Miami Herasld Archives, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2025
With some of the biggest stars in television and film in attendance, there was no shortage of fabulous and flamboyant formal wear.
—The Styles Desk, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2025
The man, no, the boy that 3,000 people had crammed inside London’s Alexandra Palace to see produce history, plus millions more watching at home and in pubs around the UK and the world, was doing it not just with dispassionate ease, or with flamboyant style, but with disdainful relish.
—Tim Spiers, The Athletic, 4 Jan. 2025
The Baker Street attraction is styled from Elton’s legendary 1975 Midsummer Music one-day festival at Wembley Stadium — hands on the key, bejewelled jumpsuit, flamboyant glasses, and platform-shoed feet in the air.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 20 Dec. 2024
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Adjective
Everybody thought the flamboyant New York investor paid $10 million in cash for the huge compound and an adjacent parcel in 1985.
—Miami Herasld Archives, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2025
With some of the biggest stars in television and film in attendance, there was no shortage of fabulous and flamboyant formal wear.
—The Styles Desk, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2025
The man, no, the boy that 3,000 people had crammed inside London’s Alexandra Palace to see produce history, plus millions more watching at home and in pubs around the UK and the world, was doing it not just with dispassionate ease, or with flamboyant style, but with disdainful relish.
—Tim Spiers, The Athletic, 4 Jan. 2025
The Baker Street attraction is styled from Elton’s legendary 1975 Midsummer Music one-day festival at Wembley Stadium — hands on the key, bejewelled jumpsuit, flamboyant glasses, and platform-shoed feet in the air.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 20 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for flamboyant
Dictionary Entries Near flamboyant
Cite this Entry
“Flamboyant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flamboyant. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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