flaring

5.1

Spreading out and moving like a coat or skirt when wind blows it

adjective
/ˈflɛrɪŋ/

: flameante

High waisted, tight around the hips, flaring out at the bottom, stripes to increase that vertical impression, and maybe the highest platform shoes you've ever seen.

Got my little bodysuit, these fun little stretchy flared pants and my totem boots.

Examples

The dancer's dress was flaring out beautifully as she twirled under the spotlight.
So dipping in, flaring back out The top of the thigh is round.
There's to be something flaring around there, A bit of plastic.
A flat up turn nose with flaring nostrils and large fleshy lips like an ass.
It is a total picture of the porousness of life forms, all leaking light flaring up, scrawling their effects on water.
The bright flames were flaring high into the night sky, lighting up the campsite.
As the kite soared higher, its colorful tail was flaring in the gentle breeze.

Synonyms

to billow

vsflaring

27 5.3

To rise and move in large, wave-like shapes, like smoke or cloth

focuses on widening broadly and streaming rather than rolling mass

to stream

vsflaring

18 3.4

To trail out in a long, flowing way behind something

emphasizes spreading wide and flapping rather than long flow

to flare

vsflaring

15 4.1

To become wider at one end or edge

is more about being blown and streaming than gradual widening

to flare out

vsflaring

1 3.8

To become wider at one end like a dress or vase

stresses streaming and flapping in air rather than mere widening

to plume

vsflaring

1 6.3

To rise and spread in the air like smoke or steam

emphasizes sideways spreading and flapping rather than vertical rise

aflare

vsflaring

Archaic

9.9

Spreading out and waving as if blown by wind

is the same meaning but expressed as a variant form

billowing

vsflaring

5.8

Full of large rounded shapes that move outward, like cloth, smoke, or clouds

describes spreading mainly as flowing or flapping in air currents

Antonyms

to settle

540 2.8

To become calm and still after movement or excitement

How Wide

billowing

5.8

flaring

5.1

flapping

2 1.0

fluttering

1 3.0

Surface Forms

flaring positive

Morphology

flaring = flare (transparent) = flare + ing

The adjective is transparently built from the verb 'flare' plus '-ing', with a clear connection to spreading or blazing outward.

Etymology

Flaring comes from the verb flare, which means a sudden bright light or to open out like a flame. So when something is 'flaring' it is spreading or flapping outward, like a coat or skirt caught by the wind.