flower
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with angiosperms, often scented and attracting different insects, and which may or may not be used for sexual reproduction.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
flowerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈflaʊɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with angiosperms, frequently scented and attracting various insects, and which may or may not be used for sexual reproduction.
botany
A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens and/or a pistil.
A plant that bears flowers, especially a plant that is small and lacks wood.
A plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
The stem of a flowering plant with the blossom or blossoms attached, used for decoration, as a gift, etc.
uncountableusually with in
Of plants, a state of bearing blooms.
verb
intransitive
To put forth blooms.
intransitive
To reach a state of full development or achievement.
transitive
To decorate with pictures of flowers.
intransitive
To come off as flowers by sublimation.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with angiosperms, frequently scented and attracting various insects, and which may or may not be used for sexual reproduction.
Used this way, flower is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use flower
- “The beautiful red flower bloomed in the garden this spring.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.