Dictionary

wallflower en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈwɔːlˌflaʊ.ə/ (UK)
• /ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/ (US)
• /ˈwɑlˌflaʊ.ɚ/ (US)

Etymology

From wall + flower.

Meanings

1. Any of several short-lived herbs or shrubs of the Erysimum genus with bright yellow to red flowers.
   • 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. 1809, William Nicholson, “BOTANY”, in The British Encyclopedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; […], volume I (A … B), London: Printed by C[harles] Whittingham, […]; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], →OCLC, column 1:
2. Gastrolobium grandiflorum, a poisonous bushy shrub, endemic to Australia.
3. 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.
   • 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. 1921, Collier's, page 3:
   • "Where--oh. Hidden in the corner. You two aren't already going all wallflower, are you?" "We are not wallflowers." "To be fair, I can be. But then I get mad at myself for it and get all loud and snarky." 2013 May 22, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, May 22, 2013:
   • It is a triumph, of course, to have plenty of partners, and not to be a wallflower for a single dance. 1897, Mrs. C. E. Humphry, Manners for Women, page 53:
   • Jack Breen was a wallflower; still at the same time I noticed he was cultivating an ornamental smile — a Jack of Trumps, you bet. 1913, Plasterer, page 8:
   • 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." 1878, Fannie Bean, Dr. Mortimer's Patient: A Novel, page 23:
   • 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 […] 1885, The Freemason's Repository, page 133:
   • Second City was a wallflower at the show business ball. It needed to be. Improvisers needed to fail, and fail safely; and in the Midwest, far from Broadway and Hollywood, they really could. Second-class stature was the secret ingredient, ... 2017, Sam Wasson, Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 94:
4. (informal) Any person who is socially awkward, shy, or reserved.
   • I've always been a wallflower, even in my own home. But, I'm willing to learn to be a part of your world. I would like to. I have already told my parents that I want to go to soirées. 2019, Liz Tyner, To Win a Wallflower, Harlequin, →ISBN:

Forms

Deriveds

wallflower cabbage · wallflowery · wallflower poison · wallflowerish

Translations (75)

nl muurbloem (herb of the Erysimum genus) · sh šèboj (herb of the Erysimum genus) · he אריסימון (herb of the Erysimum genus) · hu félrehúzódó ember (socially awkward person) · ar مَنْثُور (herb of the Erysimum genus) · de Mauerblümchen (person who does not dance at a party) · nl steenraket (herb of the Erysimum genus) · da hjørneklap (herb of the Erysimum genus) · fi seinäkukkanen (person who does not dance at a party) · mk шебој (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ja 壁の花 (socially awkward person) · fa شببوی (herb of the Erysimum genus) · bg боя́нка (herb of the Erysimum genus) · fi seinäkoriste (person who does not dance at a party) · ar فُجْل الْجَمَلِ (herb of the Erysimum genus) · is bekkjarrós (socially awkward person) · fr vélar (herb of the Erysimum genus) · tr şebboy (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ru желтофио́ль (herb of the Erysimum genus) · sv gyllenlack (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ru желту́шник (herb of the Erysimum genus) · hu sárgaviola (herb of the Erysimum genus) · la viola (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ca erísim (herb of the Erysimum genus) · sh шѐбој (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ru тихо́ня (socially awkward person) · pt goiveira (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ar خَيْرِيّ (herb of the Erysimum genus) · it violaciocca (herb of the Erysimum genus) · de Lackviole (herb of the Erysimum genus) · is veggjaskraut (socially awkward person) · pt goivo (herb of the Erysimum genus) · de Goldlack (herb of the Erysimum genus) · da bly viol (socially awkward person) · cmn 壁花 (socially awkward person) · ar تُودَرِيّ (herb of the Erysimum genus) · fi ukonnauris (herb of the Erysimum genus) · pl lak (herb of the Erysimum genus) · kk сарыбасшөп (herb of the Erysimum genus) · hy շահպրակ (herb of the Erysimum genus) · sl šebọ̑j (herb of the Erysimum genus) · pl pszonak (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ga lus an bhalla (herb of the Erysimum genus) · pl gastrolobium wielkokwiatowe (Gastrolobium grandiflorum) · az ساریلیق اوْتو (herb of the Erysimum genus) · es fea del baile (socially awkward person) · bg шибо́й (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ro micsandră-sălbatică (herb of the Erysimum genus) · hu petrezselymet árul (person who does not dance at a party) · ro micsandră-de-munte (herb of the Erysimum genus) · de Mauerblümchen (socially awkward person) · fi seinäkukkanen (socially awkward person) · he פרח קיר (socially awkward person) · no veggpryd (socially awkward person) · de Schöterich (herb of the Erysimum genus) · is gulltoppur (herb of the Erysimum genus) · hu téli viola (herb of the Erysimum genus) · pl trusia (socially awkward person) · az sarılıqotu (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ru тихо́ня (person who does not dance at a party) · pl trusia (person who does not dance at a party) · sv vägglus (socially awkward person) · ar قَصِيصَة (herb of the Erysimum genus) · fr herbe aux chantres (herb of the Erysimum genus) · es inadaptado (socially awkward person) · es alhelí (herb of the Erysimum genus) · fi seinäruusu (person who does not dance at a party) · es feo del baile (socially awkward person) · de Lackstock (herb of the Erysimum genus) · sv blyg viol (socially awkward person) · sv panelhöna (person who does not dance at a party) · fa خیری (herb of the Erysimum genus) · sv kårel (herb of the Erysimum genus) · gl alecrín (herb of the Erysimum genus) · ro micșunea (herb of the Erysimum genus)

wallflower en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈwɔːlˌflaʊ.ə/ (UK)
• /ˈwɔlˌflaʊ.ɚ/ (US)
• /ˈwɑlˌflaʊ.ɚ/ (US)

Etymology

From wall + flower.

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To stand shyly apart from a dance, waiting to be asked to join in.
   • […] the idea that a full tango experience is impossible without the presence of wallflowers and without the threat of wallflowering as the potential dancers enter the tango club. 2010, Alexandra Carter, Janet O'Shea, The Routledge Dance Studies Reader, page 237:

Forms

Relateds

shrinking violet