flaunt
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /flɔːnt/
- (some accents) IPA(key): /flɑːnt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /flɔnt/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /flɒnt/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːnt, -ɑːnt
Etymology 1[edit]
Of North Germanic origin. Perhaps related to Norwegian flanta (“to show off, wander about”), Icelandic flana (“to rush about, act rashly or heedlessly”) and then also to French flâner (“to wander around, loiter”).
Alternatively, it could be related to Swedish flankt (“loosely, flutteringly”) (compare English flaunt-a-flaunt), from flanka (“waver, hang and wave about, ramble”), a nasalised variant of flakka (“to waver”), related to Middle English flacken (“to move to and fro, flutter, palpitate”). See flack.
Alternative forms[edit]
- flant (obsolete)
Verb[edit]
flaunt (third-person singular simple present flaunts, present participle flaunting, simple past and past participle flaunted)
- (intransitive, archaic) To wave or flutter smartly in the wind.
- 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, 1985, p.26:
- The house came into sight, above the cedar grove beyond whose black interstices an apple orchard flaunted in the sunny afternoon.
- 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, 1985, p.26:
- (transitive) To parade, display with ostentation.
- She's always flaunting her designer clothes.
- 2017 June 7, Adam Lusher, “Adnan Khashoggi: the 'whoremonger' whose arms deals funded a playboy life of decadence and 'pleasure wives'”, in The Independent[1], London:
- Never one to miss an opportunity to flaunt his wealth, Khashoggi let his yacht be used for the 1983 Bond film Never Say Never Again.
- (intransitive, archaic or literary) To show off, as with flashy clothing.
- 1712, John Arbuthnot, The History of John Bull:
- You flaunt about the streets in your new gilt chariot.
- 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], OCLC 960856019:
- One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade.
- 1856, Dinah Craik, John Halifax Chapter VI,
- [T]he younger belles had begun to flaunt in the French fashions of flimsy muslins, shortwaisted— narrow-skirted.
- 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew Chapter XXV,
- […] and Mrs. Wix seemed to flaunt there in her finery.
Usage notes[edit]
- Not to be confused with flout.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Noun[edit]
flaunt (plural flaunts)
- (obsolete) Anything displayed for show.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii]:
- Should I , in these my borrow'd flaunts, behold
The sternness of his presence?
Etymology 2[edit]
Verb[edit]
flaunt (third-person singular simple present flaunts, present participle flaunting, simple past and past participle flaunted)
- (proscribed) To flout.
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- Rhymes:English/ɔːnt
- Rhymes:English/ɔːnt/1 syllable
- Rhymes:English/ɑːnt
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