Buttercup
//ˈbʌt.ɚ.kʌp// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of many herbs, of the genus Ranunculus, having yellow flowers; the crowfoot.
- 2 any of various plants of the genus Ranunculus wordnet
- 3 Any flower of the genus Narcissus; a daffodil.
- 4 Ellipsis of buttercup squash. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 5 Affectionate or ironic term of address.
"When she touched my hand, what a chill I got Her lips are like a volcano that's hot I'm proud to say that she's my buttercup. I'm in love - I'm all shook up."
Example
More examples"One morning, very early, before the sun was up, I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup; But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head, Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed."
Etymology
From butter + cup. Both sense 1 and 2 are from the flowers' association with butter, from their yellow colour. Compare butterflower for a similar derivation; outside of English, compare Dutch boterbloem, German Butterblume.
Related phrases
More for "buttercup"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.