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Webster 1913 Edition

Flaunt

Flaunt

(flänt or fla̤nt; 277)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Flaunted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
.
Flaunting
.]
[Cf. dial. G.
flandern
to flutter, wave; perh. akin to E.
flatter
,
flutter
.]
To throw or spread out; to flutter; to move ostentatiously;
as, a
flaunting
show
.
You
flaunt
about the streets in your new gilt chariot.
Arbuthnot.
One
flaunts
in rags, one flutters in brocade.
Pope.

Flaunt

,
Noun.
Anything displayed for show.
[Obs.]
In these my borrowed
flaunts
.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Flaunt

FL'AUNT

,
Verb.
I.
[I know not whence we have this word. From the root L. bearing the sense of throwing out, or spreading. See Flounce.]
1.
To throw or spread out; to flutter; to display ostentatiously; as a flaunting show.
You flaunt about the streets in your new gilt chariot.
One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade.
[This correctly expresses the author's meaning, which is, that the proud often attempt to make a show and parade of their importance, even in poverty. Johnson's remark on the use of the word seems therefore to be unfounded.]
2.
To carry a pert or saucy appearance.

FL'AUNT

,
Noun.
Any thing displayed for show.

Definition 2024

flaunt

flaunt

English

Alternative forms

Verb

flaunt ‎(third-person singular simple present flaunts, present participle flaunting, simple past and past participle flaunted)

  1. (intransitive, archaic) To wave or flutter smartly in the wind.
    • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, 1985, p.26:
      The house came into sight, above the cedar grove beyond whose black interstices an apple orchard flaunted in the sunny afternoon.
  2. (transitive) To parade, display with ostentation.
    She's always flaunting her designer clothes.
  3. (intransitive, archaic or literary) To show off, as with flashy clothing.
    • Arbuthnot
      You flaunt about the streets in your new gilt chariot.
    • Alexander Pope
      One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade.
    • 1856, Dinah Craik, John Halifax Chapter VI,
      [T]he younger belles had begun to flaunt in the French fashions of flimsy muslins, shortwaisted— narrow-skirted.
    • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew Chapter XXV,
      … and Mrs. Wix seemed to flaunt there in her finery.

Usage notes

  • Do not confuse with flout.

Translations

Etymology

Of North Germanic origin, related to Norwegian flanta ‎(“to show off, wander about”), Icelandic flana ‎(“to rush about, act rashly or heedlessly”); or perhaps related to Swedish flankt ("loosely, flutteringly"; compare English flaunt-a-flaunt), from Swedish flanka ‎(“waver, hang and wave about, ramble”), a nasalised variant of Swedish flakka ‎(“to waver”), related to Middle English flacken ‎(“to move to and fro, flutter, palpitate”), see flack.

Pronunciation

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