Words / B1

FLUR-ish/ˈflʌrɪʃ/

To flourish is to grow or succeed: businesses flourish; plants flourish. Thrive is a close twin (later in B2). Wave something with a flourish is a different, rarer sense. Do not call a one-week sales bump flourishing. UK features: high streets that still flourish.

Meaning

To grow or succeed; also to wave something in the air.

Examples

• “High-street cafés flourished after the new station opened.”
• “Wildflowers flourish on the cuttings beside the railway.”

Good to know

businesses / plants flourish. Close: thrive. Rarer: with a flourish (a dramatic wave). Not a brief lucky week.

Near in meaning

thrive

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