artistic flourish
Decorative creative touch
An artistic flourish is a decorative embellishment or showy gesture added to a creative work—a calligrapher's sweeping stroke, a pianist's dramatic run, a writer's ornate phrase.
The flourish serves aesthetic rather than functional purposes, demonstrating skill or adding flair: She signed her name with an artistic flourish.
The term can be approving or gently critical, depending on whether the embellishment enhances or overwhelms.
- embellishmentDecorative addition or exaggeration
- swirlRotating, curving movement
- pen strokeSingle movement making ink
- ornamentThing that beautifies
- flairStylish natural aptitude
dramatic flair · panache · brushstroke · bold strokes · curlicue · decoration · filigree · art nouveau · stylized · dramatic · grand gesture · gesture · sweep · calligraphy · illuminated manuscript · signature · penmanship · elaborate
artistic flourishplainness
Unadorned, straightforward quality
simplicity · austerity · minimalism · starkness · bareness
artistic flourishrestraint
Control over impulses
understatement · subtlety · reserve · reticence · terseness
artistic flourishfunctionalism
Theory emphasizing purposes and roles
utilitarian design · utilitarianism · practicality · brutalism
artistic, flourish, artist, artistry, arts, artful, artfully, artless, artisan