flowery

adj

1. Pertaining to or characteristic of flowers.

   ““Sir you are mistaken—I am not——.” But before he could say ‘a girl,’ this ancient period-strumpet of a bedizened man (upon a pattern drawn from a time of swords and silk, when men were in their floweriest scent—savagely tattooed with braid—intoxicated with their own snuff—forever on tiptoe—disgusted with the mannish—wooing Woman after the fashion of women) burst in and silenced him, […]”

2. Decorated with or abundant in flowers.

   “At last she reached a flowery knoll, at whose feet ran a little burn, shaded with woodbine and wild roses; and there she sat down, burying her face in her hands.”

3. Of a speech or piece of writing: overly complicated or elaborate; with grandiloquent expressions; marked by rhetorical elegance.

   “My accusers, then, as I maintain, have said little or nothing that is true, but from me you shall hear the whole truth; not, I can assure you, gentlemen, in flowery language like theirs, decked out with fine words and phrases; […]”

4. Melodramatic, overexaggerated.

   “Although flowery actions are used in the plays of the 1890s, waving arms, wringing hands, and pleading with outstretched arms would be unsuitable in plays about modern life.”

   ““Miss, it would be my great pleasure to escort you and your uncle to supper this evening.” Sasha stifled her desire to roll her eyes at his flowery actions, but the fact that he omitted inviting Jim irritated her.”

   “He kissed her hand in a way she found just a little flowery.”

noun

1. (informal, rare)Someone or something considered flowery.

   “Now the revolutionaries-the Commies, Ban the Bomb floweries, Hippies, Wierdies with Beardies, Aldermaston Marchers, IRA, Anarchists- are in the driving seat.”

   “I think those who happened to end up in the department of 'Critical Method' are a bunch of 'flowery' people who have absolutely NO clue of what Marxism has to say in this regard. […] Marxism has NOTHING to do with what the extremist leftists or rightists or floweries are doing/saying.”

   “He took a small bite, spit it out nearly immediately, dropped the spoon back in the bowl, and pushed it away. After seeing Jeff’s reaction, Baldwin pushed his untouched bowl toward the center of the table. “Heh, heh, heh, what a couple of floweries,” Dave said, food spraying as he shoveled it into his mouth.”

2. (informal, rare)Someone or something considered flowery.

   ““I am glad to find I have such an eloquent junior,” said he, shaking hands with me. “Just leave me the law and the arguments, and do you take the floweries.” / […] “I am afraid, Magee,” said I, “that neither your law nor my ‘floweries,’ as you call them, will be of much use here. The game is up.” / “Nonsense, man—the game is never up till the verdict is given. Everything depends on the jury. […] And of course we can have a strong alibi or two—eh?””

   “It was well done up to that point -- apart from a few sneaky attacks of the floweries.”

   “i look forward to the day when someone can just give me feedback without any affirming touchy feely floweries and i can just take the feedback and not take the absence of the floweries as a "By the way, i despise you".”

3. (informal, rare)Someone or something considered flowery.

   “[H]e gave it in charge to the Goldſmiths that were moſt ingenious, and of beſt capacity, to finſh and accompliſh the Buſineſs, engraven and adorned with all poſſible Variety: commanding that thoſe who wrought in the Borders, Raiſings, Floweries, Wrappings, Entortilations, and ſuch like; ſhould amuſe themſelves only for Beautifying and Decoration: […]”

   “‘’Aven’t they got no floweries ’ere?’ he asked, looking round at the row of beds. ‘This is like a bleedin’ lodgin’ ’ouse—or like the bleedin’ snotty orphans.’”

   “‘Oh, you do be taking hoff them floweries,’ a voice would say suddenly behind him. / ‘Don’t you wish you was an artisty, Joe? Naught to do all day but sit on yer arse.’”

4. (diminutive, form-of, informal, rare)Diminutive of flower.

   “Hearken these blissful birdies how they sing, / And see the freshé floweries, how they spring!””

   “That pottie’s too wee for six, Minnie, lassie. Go ben to the room press and you’ll see a big brown one with blue floweries on it.”

   “I wore a white dress with yellow, grey and black floweries on it and a large white hat.”

   “Us was goody goody garden workers… us growed pretty floweries for our fairy.”

5. (rare)A place where flowers grow.

   “Poppies make very showy floweries and should be planted lightly in the spots where they are intended to be grown.”

   “I have visited the rose gardens of California and basked in the artificial floweries of Luther Burbank, but back in my heart’s country, ’twixt the cave and the thorn tree, one may pluck a tulip or an old-fashioned “Jack in the Pulpit” scattering incense and pollen of the fairest flower of all the springtime.”

   “While Men were foraging in the floweries and picking nuts and flowers and seeds and other such small foraging items while having to escape from other kind of predators, it is their running that still shows the kind of balance needed to speed on hard(er) surfaces.”