# flourish

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈflʌɹ.ɪʃ/ · frequency rank #14,324

## Definitions
1. To thrive or grow well.
2. To prosper or fare well.
3. To be in a period of greatest influence.
4. To develop; to make thrive; to expand.
5. To make bold, sweeping movements with.
6. To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.
7. To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions.
8. To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.
9. To adorn with beautiful figures or rhetoric; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish.
10. To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.
11. To boast; to vaunt; to brag.
12. To brandish (a weapon).
13. To be known to have been alive at a particular time or in a particular period, where one's birth and death dates are not known; to have been active during a specified period; floruit.

## Etymology
From Middle English floryschen, from Old French florir (via the arrhizotonic stem floriss-), from Late Latin flōrīre, from Latin flōrēre, from Latin flōrem (“flower”, noun). Corresponds to flower + -ish.

## Easily confused with
- **florist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/florist-vs-flourish)

## Common misspellings (12)
`fflourish`, `fllourish`, `floruish`, `flouirsh`, `flourihs`, `flourishh`, `flourissh`, `flourrish`, `floursih`, `fluorish`, `folurish`, `lfourish`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/flourish