Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†FLAIR, v., n. Also flare, and dim. forms †flairy, †flairock.
I. v. To flatter; “to cajole, coax” (Lth. 1808 Jam.; Fif. Ib., flairy); to brag, boast. Phr. a flairockan bodie, a flatterer (Rnf. 1837 Crawfurd MSS. XI. 304).m.Lth. 1786 G. Robertson Ha'rst Rig (1801) xxxvii.:
Some flairing wife now tells how she Did win a Kemp most manfully.Ayr. 1790 A. Tait Poems 147:
Yer warks the bawdy bodies flairs.ne.Sc. 1871 J. Milne Songs 109:
The warld wagged as well when there wasna sic flairen.Rxb. 1871 H. S. Riddell Poet. Wks. I. 5:
I'm no come here To seich and sab and flare and row.Dmf. 1925 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 25:
I dinna like fouk flairin' aboot me.
II. n. 1. Flattering talk (Lth. 1808 Jam.); boasting.Edb. 1811 H. MacNeill Bygane Times 23:
Soon find out, in spite o' flare, Wharfrae they come, and what they are.
2. A fuss, a to-do.Dmf. 1823 J. Kennedy Poems 79:
Quo' she, and made an unco flare, I hae nae siller now to spare.
3. In dim. form flairock, a flatterer (Rnf. 1837 Crawfurd MSS. XI. 304).
[Etym. doubtful. Cf. Norw. dial. flera, to caress. But in view of the relatively recent appearance of the word, it may be merely a semantic development from Eng. flare, to spread out, display.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Flair v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 29 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/flair>
