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wallflower

/ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/noun, verb

wallflower is a noun meaning “Any of several short-lived herbs or shrubs of the Erysimum genus with bright yellow to red flowers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled W-A-L-L-F-L-O-W-E-R and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 3 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of wallflower is wallflowers.

What does wallflower mean?

noun

  1. 1

    Any of several short-lived herbs or shrubs of the Erysimum genus with bright yellow to red flowers.

  2. 2

    Gastrolobium grandiflorum, a poisonous bushy shrub, endemic to Australia.

  3. 3

    A person who does not dance at a party, due to shyness or unpopularity; by extension, anyone who is left on the sidelines while an activity takes place.

  4. 4

    informalAny person who is socially awkward, shy, or reserved.

verb

  1. 1

    To stand shyly apart from a dance, waiting to be asked to join in.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce wallflower?

  • UK /ˈwɔːlˌflaʊ.ə/
  • US /ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/
  • US /ˈwɑlˌflaʊ.ɚ/

Wallflower has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-wallflower.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of wallflower

  • wallflowers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • wall-flower
  • wall flower
  • wallflowering participle, present
  • wallflowered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is wallflower?

Wallflower appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,954th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Words people confuse with wallflower

Also written: wall-flower (one word or two).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Wallflower in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchvélar, herbe aux chantres (herb of the Erysimum genus)
GermanGoldlack, Lackstock, Lackviole, Schöterich (herb of the Erysimum genus), Mauerblümchen (person who does not dance at a party)
Portuguesegoivo, goiveira (herb of the Erysimum genus)
Spanishalhelí (herb of the Erysimum genus), inadaptado, feo del baile, fea del baile (socially awkward person)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does wallflower come from?

From wall + flower.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).