stiff gentian
- noun
- /stɪf ˈdʒɛnʃən/
- Specialized
:
genciana rígida
- The stiff gentian blooms late in the season, adding bright color to autumn meadows.
Examples
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Gardeners often seek out stiff gentians for their striking blue clusters of flowers.
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We spotted a beautiful stiff gentian growing near the edge of the forest.
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Look at that stiff gentian growing near the trail!
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The stiff gentian blooms beautifully in late summer.
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Gardeners often seek out stiff gentians for their striking blue clusters of flowers.
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The stiff gentian blooms late in the season, adding bright color to autumn meadows.
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We spotted a beautiful stiff gentian growing near the edge of the forest.
Synonyms
1
9.5
A flowering plant with bright blue or purple tube-shaped flowers
A small wild plant with clusters of bright blue flowers that grows in eastern North America
A small wild plant from eastern North America with clusters of bristly blue flowers
A wildflower with clusters of small blue flowers that grows in eastern North America
A wild plant of eastern North America with clusters of small, bristly blue flowers
A plant with clusters of bristly blue flowers that grows in eastern North America
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun combination where 'stiff' describes a physical property of the 'gentian' plant; a learner who knows 'stiff' (rigid) and 'gentian' (a type of flowering plant) can infer it refers to a gentian with a rigid or erect quality. This compositional adj-noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and does not require idiomatic or metaphorical knowledge, so the meaning is transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
Stiff gentian is a plant name that may come from its firm, upright stems and the type of flower it is: stiff shows the straight stems and gentian is the blue-flowered plant. So the name means a 'plant' with straight, bristly stems and clusters of bright blue flowers.