Flouncy
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 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."
- 2 Calling attention; flashy, showy; also, elaborate; fancy. figuratively
"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 many good folks would like to share it with the lovely Mrs. Wimbledon."
- 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."
Example
More examples"[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."
Etymology
From flounce (noun) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.