flaunt
to display something in a boastful way
TRANSLATION
flaunt = etwas stolz zur Schau stellen, mit etwas protzen --- GOOGLE INDEX flaunt: approximately 15,300,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Eastern and Asian enthusiasts were buying flashy super-cars to FLAUNT their newfound riches.
(BBC News)
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FLAUNT your Bikini Body this Summer
(Cosmetic News Portal)
(BBC News)
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FLAUNT your Bikini Body this Summer
(Cosmetic News Portal)
Did you
know?
flaunt
verb
- to show or make obvious something you are proud of in order to get admiration
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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English has many word pairs that create confusion or which are used incorrectly. Flaunt and its cousin flout make up one of these pairs.
As the Oxford Word blog says, flaunt means to display something in a showy or obvious way. That might be the neighbor who parks his new Ferrari in his drive way and stands around admiring it for 20 minutes in the hope that someone will pass by and also admire it.
Or it could be a woman who walks into the office wearing a tight dress that makes her curvy figure obvious for everyone to see. We normally view flaunting as tasteless and boastful, thus it is used in a negative sense for the most part. Depending on the situation however, it can be applied in a light-hearted or humorous fashion.
Flout, which also sounds a bit like flaunt, is also based on the idea of doing something in an obvious way. However, this is where the similarity ends. Flout refers to intentionally disobeying or ignoring a rule, law or custom.
The best way to remember the correct usage is to think about what you want to say. If it refers to displaying something in an obvious way, then use flaunt (He certainly likes to flaunt his wealth). If the meaning is to ignore a rule or a law, go with flout (He flouted the law and paid the price)
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SYNONYMS
advertise, boast, divulge, parade, showcase, trot out, wave around
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"It's usually a mistake to flaunt one's academic credentials."
verb
- to show or make obvious something you are proud of in order to get admiration
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
English has many word pairs that create confusion or which are used incorrectly. Flaunt and its cousin flout make up one of these pairs.
As the Oxford Word blog says, flaunt means to display something in a showy or obvious way. That might be the neighbor who parks his new Ferrari in his drive way and stands around admiring it for 20 minutes in the hope that someone will pass by and also admire it.
Or it could be a woman who walks into the office wearing a tight dress that makes her curvy figure obvious for everyone to see. We normally view flaunting as tasteless and boastful, thus it is used in a negative sense for the most part. Depending on the situation however, it can be applied in a light-hearted or humorous fashion.
Flout, which also sounds a bit like flaunt, is also based on the idea of doing something in an obvious way. However, this is where the similarity ends. Flout refers to intentionally disobeying or ignoring a rule, law or custom.
The best way to remember the correct usage is to think about what you want to say. If it refers to displaying something in an obvious way, then use flaunt (He certainly likes to flaunt his wealth). If the meaning is to ignore a rule or a law, go with flout (He flouted the law and paid the price)
---
SYNONYMS
advertise, boast, divulge, parade, showcase, trot out, wave around
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"It's usually a mistake to flaunt one's academic credentials."
