Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wallflower

/ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.50 in modern English

Syllables: wall-flower
IPA: /ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/

19

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

noun

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

noun

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.

noun

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

Informal

verb

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

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"A polypetalous corolla is either cruciform, as in a wall-flower, rosaceous, papilionaceous, as in the pea kind, or incomplete, when some parts found in analogous flowers are wanting."
"Mrs. Galbraith shook all over with laughter as she replied, "Hear that boy, asking me to dance ! I'm content to be a wallflower, now-a-days.""
"And now, by virtue of his office, he is entitled to a seat in the Grand Lodge. Is it any wonder he is a wall-flower there […]"
"It is a triumph, of course, to have plenty of partners, and not to be a wallflower for a single dance."
"Jack Breen was a wallflower; still at the same time I noticed he was cultivating an ornamental smile — a Jack of Trumps, you bet."
"She was a wallflower in a sleepy little town itself a wallflower. She was a joke to the village wits and a byword to the village belles."

Etymology

From wall + flower.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/
British English: /ˈwɔːlˌflaʊ.ə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

wallflowers (plural) wall-flower (alternative) wall flower (alternative) wallflowers (present, singular) wallflowering (participle, present) wallflowered (participle, past) wallflowered (past)

Derived Forms

wallflowerish wallflowery

Phrases

wallflower cabbage wallflower poison shrinking violet

Frequently Paired Words

shrinking violet

Synonyms

cheiranthus cheiri erysimum cheiri

Questions

How do you pronounce wallflower?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/.
What does wallflower mean?: Any of several short-lived herbs or shrubs of the Erysimum genus with bright yellow to red flowers.
Where does wallflower come from?: From wall + flower.

How to pronounce wallflower

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “wallflower”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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