flowry

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...

See all 8 meanings of flowery