flounce

Probably of North Germanic origin, from Norwegian flunsa (“hurry”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Or, perhaps formed on the pattern of pounce, bounce.

• IPA^(key): /flaʊns/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (General American):

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• Rhymes: -aʊns

flounce (third-person singular simple present flounces, present participle flouncing, simple past and past participle flounced)

1. To move in a bouncy, exaggerated manner.
   • 1952, Norman Lewis, Golden Earth:

     There was a continual coming and going of flouncing, pig-tailed forms, until the table was closely covered with dishes, scarlet curries with surface currents of ochreous oil, three varieties of what looked like seaweed (inevitably recommended as abundant in vitamins), a paste made of ground beans and chillis...

2. To depart in a dramatic, haughty way that draws attention to oneself.

   After failing to win the leadership election, he flounced dramatically.

   • 1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 67:

     'Oh certainly,' retorted Tinette impudently, as she flounced out of the room.

   • 2002 September 9, PButler111, “Re: OT - Sept. 11th?”, in alt.fan.barry-manilow‎^[1] (Usenet):

     You got your ass kicked and instead of admitting you might have made a mistake, you flounced.

   • 2012 August 7, Gaby Hinsliff, “The lessons of Louise Mensch's departure? There are none”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     But love Mensch or hate her, don't buy the line that she merely got bored and flounced: for whatever else she achieved in politics, she was never exactly stuck for ways to make it interesting.

   • 2025 September 11, Kate Marvel, “‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     In 1946, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was established to regulate whale stocks and “make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry”. It attempted to impose quotas and move the industry toward something more sustainable. This proved difficult, so the IWC simply gave up and imposed a moratorium on whaling altogether. Some countries flounced out in a huff; others had never joined in the first place.

3. (archaic) To flounder; to make spastic motions.
   • a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). Of Contentment”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:

     To flutter and flounce will do nothing but batter and bruise us.

   • 1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses:

     With his broad fins and forky tail he laves / The rising surge, and flounces in the waves.

4. (sewing) To decorate with a flounce.

flounce (plural flounces)

1. (sewing) A strip of decorative material, usually pleated, attached along one edge; a ruffle.
   • 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:

     Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.

2. The act of flouncing; a dramatic departure.
   • 2025 September 24, Stuart Heritage, “Go quietly and get a side hustle: how to quit acting properly”, in The Guardian‎^[4], →ISSN:

     Emma Watson’s approach is in stark contrast to that of Daniel Day-Lewis; a man who, despite being the greatest actor on earth, is somewhat prone to a flounce. […] Day-Lewis announced that he had retired from acting, putting out a statement that read: “Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor.”

3. A row of corrugations, skin folds, or spines, on the hemipenis of a snake.
   • 2008, David Attenborough, Life in Cold Blood, section 252:

• afflouncement
• flounce post
• flouncey (dated), flouncy

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Flounce”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.

• ruffle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia