flounce

Meanings

Verb

• To move in an exaggerated, bouncy manner.
• To flounder; to make spastic motions.
• To decorate with a flounce.
• To depart in a haughty, dramatic way that draws attention to oneself.

Noun

• A strip of decorative material, usually pleated, attached along one edge; a ruffle.^W
• The act of flouncing.
• A row of spines, corrugations, or skin folds on the hemipenis of a snake.

Origin

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