Word.ws English Dictionary

flowery

/ˈflaʊəɹi/US/ˈflaʊəɹi/

flowery adjective: pertaining to or characteristic of flowers. Also the diminutive of flower.

Adjective

flowery (comparative flowerier or more flowery, superlative floweriest or most flowery)

  1. Pertaining to or characteristic of flowers.
    • “Sir you are mistaken—I am not——.” But before he could say ‘a girl,’ this ancient period-strumpet of a bedizened man (upon a pattern drawn from a time of swords and silk, when men were in their floweriest scent—savagely tattooed with braid—intoxicated with their own snuff—forever on...1930, Wyndham Lewis, “Dan at the Assembly”, in The Apes of God, New York, N.Y.: Robert M[edill] McBride & Company, published 1932, →OCLC, part XII (Lord Osmund’s Lenten Party), page 464
  2. Decorated with or abundant in flowers.
    • At last she reached a flowery knoll, at whose feet ran a little burn, shaded with woodbine and wild roses; and there she sat down, burying her face in her hands.1879, William Henderson, Notes on the folk-lore of the northern counties of England and the borders
    Synonyms:
    flowerful
  3. Of a speech or piece of writing: overly complicated or elaborate; with grandiloquent expressions; marked by rhetorical elegance.
    • My accusers, then, as I maintain, have said little or nothing that is true, but from me you shall hear the whole truth; not, I can assure you, gentlemen, in flowery language like theirs, decked out with fine words and phrases; […]1954, Plato, translated by Hugh Tredennick, “Socrates on Trial: The Apology”, in The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics), Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, →OCLC, page 19
    Synonyms:
    bombastic, verbose
  4. Melodramatic, overexaggerated.
    • Although flowery actions are used in the plays of the 1890s, waving arms, wringing hands, and pleading with outstretched arms would be unsuitable in plays about modern life.1972, Miriam A[nna] Franklin, “Use of Hands and Feet”, in Rehearsal: The Principles and Practice of Acting for the Stage, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, →ISBN, part II (Sharpening Theater...
    • “Miss, it would be my great pleasure to escort you and your uncle to supper this evening.” Sasha stifled her desire to roll her eyes at his flowery actions, but the fact that he omitted inviting Jim irritated her.2007, Vickie McDonough, “A Wealth Beyond Riches”, in Oklahoma Brides: Dreams Come Full Circle in Three Prairie Romances, Uhrichsville, Okla.: Barbour Publishing, published [2008], →ISBN, chapter 7...

Noun (1)

flowery (plural floweries)

  1. (informal, rare) A flowery person.
    • Now the revolutionaries-the Commies, Ban the Bomb floweries, Hippies, Wierdies with Beardies, Aldermaston Marchers, IRA, Anarchists- are in the driving seat.2004 January 13, DaveK, “All We have To Do To Lose Our Freedom Is Nothing.”, in uk.legal (Usenet), archived from the original on 17 Aug 2025
    • I think those who happened to end up in the department of 'Critical Method' are a bunch of 'flowery' people who have absolutely NO clue of what Marxism has to say in this regard. […] Marxism has NOTHING to do with what the extremist leftists or rightists or floweries are doing/saying.2006 January 31, fyfpoon@gmail.com, “Enthralled by Cultural Marxism”, in aus.politics (Usenet), archived from the original on 17 Aug 2025
  2. (informal, rare) A flowery phrase or statement.
    • “I am glad to find I have such an eloquent junior,” said he, shaking hands with me. “Just leave me the law and the arguments, and do you take the floweries.” / […] “I am afraid, Magee,” said I, “that neither your law nor my ‘floweries,’ as you call them, will be of much use here. The game is up.” /...1895, Jack Westropp [pseudonym], “In Which My Appearance Causes the Sovereign Demos to Arise in Its Might”, in Jack Westropp: An Autobiography […], volume II, London: Downey & Co. […], →OCLC, pages...
    • It was well done up to that point -- apart from a few sneaky attacks of the floweries.2002 March 12, Anopheles, “(Story) The Lord Of Miss Rule (5,093 words)”, in alt.fiction.original (Usenet), archived from the original on 17 Aug 2025
  3. (informal, rare) A flowery decoration.
    • [H]e gave it in charge to the Goldſmiths that were moſt ingenious, and of beſt capacity, to finſh and accompliſh the Buſineſs, engraven and adorned with all poſſible Variety: commanding that thoſe who wrought in the Borders, Raiſings, Floweries, Wrappings, Entortilations, and ſuch like; ſhould...1685, Aristeus, translated by John Done, “Of the Presents Sent unto Eleazer, Chief Priest of the Jews, by King Ptolomeus Philadelphus. And First of the Table of Gold.”, in The Ancient History of the...
    • ‘’Aven’t they got no floweries ’ere?’ he asked, looking round at the row of beds. ‘This is like a bleedin’ lodgin’ ’ouse—or like the bleedin’ snotty orphans.’1958, Brendan Behan, part 2, in Borstal Boy, London: Hutchinson & Co., →OCLC, page 143

Noun (2)

flowery (plural floweries)

  1. (rare) A place where flowers grow.
    • Poppies make very showy floweries and should be planted lightly in the spots where they are intended to be grown.1914 April, Grasmere [pseudonym], “April Days on Canada’s Farms”, in Farmer’s Magazine, Toronto, Ont.: Maclean Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 85, column 1
    • I have visited the rose gardens of California and basked in the artificial floweries of Luther Burbank, but back in my heart’s country, ’twixt the cave and the thorn tree, one may pluck a tulip or an old-fashioned “Jack in the Pulpit” scattering incense and pollen of the fairest flower of all the...1919, Harry Collins Spillman, “The Old Home Town”, in Personality: Studies in Personal Development, New York, N.Y.: The Gregg Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 110

Also used as

flowery is also the diminutive of flower.

flowery meaning in Tagalog

flowery in Tagalog

decorated with flowers
mabulaklak

Examples of flowery in a sentence

  • That makes sense, because we’re all looking for flowery language from our physicians.
  • You have dressed festive altars in colored wreaths, painted them fresh with flowery threads.
  • "Dreary to explain and word all that gnashy science into flowery bower chat," said Emul.

All 18 example sentences with flowery

Synonyms of flowery

Forms of flowery

Adjective
comparativeflowerier
comparativemore flowery
superlativefloweriest
superlativemost flowery
alternative form (obsolete)flow'ry
Noun
pluralfloweries

Origin of flowery

From Middle English floury, equivalent to flower + -y (adjectival suffix). Piecewise doublet of floury.

From flower + -y (diminutive suffix).

From flower + -ery.

Words formed from flowery

Phrases with flowery

Words that rhyme with flowery

Questions about flowery

What does flowery mean?
Flowery means pertaining to or characteristic of flowers.
What is flowery in Tagalog?
Flowery in Tagalog is mabulaklak. See Flowery meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is flowery?
Flowery can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce flowery?
Flowery is pronounced /ˈflaʊəɹi/ (UK).

Words near flowery in the dictionary

  1. flowers of zinc
  2. flowers-of-an-hour
  3. flowerstem
  4. flowerstems
  5. flowerstrewn
  6. flowery
  7. Flowery Field
  8. Flowery Gully
  9. Flowery Kingdom
  10. flowery war
  11. flowes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: flowery (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-flowery.wav.

Cite this entry: “flowery.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/flowery. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.