flower of youth
- noun
- Archaic
:
flor de la juventud
- During the flower of youth, she traveled the world and pursued her dreams.
Examples
-
In the flower of youth, every day felt like a new opportunity to learn and grow.
-
May Carrie and Vivian, victims in different ways and in the flower of youth, rest together in peace.
Academic text (2002) -
He often reminisced about the flower of youth when he had boundless energy for adventure.
Synonyms
16
3.2
A time when a person or thing is at its best
7
4.1
A time when something is most successful or active
1
6.3
A time when a young person looks and feels their best
How Vigorous
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the prime or peak period of youth' is directly derivable from combining 'flower' (metaphorically 'peak/prime') with 'youth' (being young). Although slightly literary, this metaphorical composition is a transparent, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g. Spanish 'flor de la juventud', French 'fleur de l'âge'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the sense.
Etymology
Flower of youth comes from the image of a flower in full bloom, and people compared youth to that bright, short time of life. So, it means 'the time when someone is full of energy and promise'.