flaunt
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- flant (obsolete)
Etymology[edit]
Of North Germanic origin, related to Norwegian flanta (“to show off, wander about”), Icelandic flana (“to rush about, act rashly or heedlessly”); or perhaps related to Swedish flankt ("loosely, flutteringly"; compare English flaunt-a-flaunt), from Swedish flanka (“waver, hang and wave about, ramble”), a nasalised variant of Swedish flakka (“to waver”), related to Middle English flacken (“to move to and fro, flutter, palpitate”), see flack.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /flɔːnt/
- (some accents) IPA(key): /flɑːnt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /flɔnt/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /flɒnt/
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Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːnt, -ɑːnt
Verb[edit]
flaunt (third-person singular simple present flaunts, present participle flaunting, simple past and past participle flaunted)
- (intransitive, obsolete) To wave or flutter smartly in the wind.
- (transitive) To parade, display with ostentation.
- She's always flaunting her designer clothes.
- (intransitive, archaic or literary) To show off, as with flashy clothing.
- Arbuthnot
- You flaunt about the streets in your new gilt chariot.
- Alexander Pope
- 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.
- Arbuthnot
Usage notes[edit]
- Do not confuse with flout.
Translations[edit]
to display with ostentation
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To show off with flashy clothing
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