flouncy

Adjective

flouncy (comparative flouncier, superlative flounciest)

1. Moving with a flounce (“a bouncy, exaggerated manner; an act of departing in a dramatic, haughty way that draws attention to oneself”).
   • [S]he came, saw, and conquered the worthy man whose name she adorns, and whose home she keeps in a manner which is the despair of all the easygoing, hoopy, flouncy, little women, who have made sundry tomtits happy by allowing them to pay their dry-goods bills.1857 July, “The Balaams”, in Putnam’s Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art, volume X, number LV, New York, N.Y.: Oaksmith & Company, […]; London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., →OCLC...
   • In other matters, besides those connected with the lamentable young man, the flouncy nature of this misguided young person hourly manifests itself. She is of that kind that runs over street crossings and smiles upon the wide world generally when she reaches the other side.[1882], Charles H[enry] Ross, “Our Young Ladies. Being Useful or Ornamental Addenda to Anybody’s Boys.”, in Flirting Made Easy. A Guide for Girls. […], London: “Judy” Office, […], →OCLC, page 96
2. (figuratively) Calling attention; flashy, showy; also, elaborate; fancy.
   • Take, as a contrast, a near neighbor on the left, pretty Mrs. Wimbledon, widow of the late Mr. Wimbledon, a young and pretty widow; with a garden that looks so intelligent; with flower-beds so dashing and flouncy; with premium strawberries; with altogether "so engaging a place," as people say, that...1860 December 1, “‘Ye may Know Him by His Garden’”, in Thomas Meehan, editor, The Gardener’s Monthly and Horticultural Advertiser, volume II, number 12, Philadelphia, Pa.: [s.n.], →OCLC, pages 372–373
   • And, later, when I married Francisco and replaced the McBride like a pair of baggy old knickers with his much frillier, flouncier surname, I couldn't help but marvel at my lucky escape.2010, Marion McGilvary, A Lost Wife’s Tale […], New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 32
3. Of a garment, etc.: having a flounce (“strip of decorative material, usually pleated, attached along one edge”) or flounces; gathered and pleated.
   • [N]ovv praye, vvhat may you call that flouncy garment? for I ſuppoſe it has ſome fine fangled neam belonging to it.1756, [Charlotte] Charke, “Mr. Dumont Arrives at Iver. By Accident another of the Gang is Taken, by which Means the Rest are Found. Young Boistrous and His Sister Make a Discovery at Dumont’s to the...
   • Sometimes she thought of adopting a more showy, flouncy style of dress—like the Miss Smiths; but when it came to the point, somehow Hannah always felt she could not go out so. People would laugh at her, and say she was copying the Smiths, and "anything rather than that," thought Hannah Brown.1863, [Christiana Jane Douglas], “Hannah Brown”, in The Browns and the Smiths. […], volume I, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 44–45