flapper

Twenties party girl

A flapper was a young woman of the 1920s who flouted conventional expectations—wearing short skirts, bobbing her hair, smoking, drinking, and embracing jazz culture.

The term captured both the fashion and the attitude: bold, modern, sexually liberated.

She dressed like a flapper for the costume party.

The word has faded into historical reference, evoking the Jazz Age and Prohibition-era rebellion.

1920s

Charleston

Southern Atlantic port city

Gatsby · bobbed · hemlines · bathtub gin · moonshine · Model T · Harlem Renaissance · suffrage · Zelda Fitzgerald · jazz age

fashion

cloche

Fitted dome-shaped hat

  • beadsSmall pierced ornaments for stringing
  • fringeOutermost edge or margin
  • sequinsSmall reflective fabric ornaments

headband · feather boa · tassel · silk · satin · velvet · flounce · T-strap heels · bobbed hair · finger waves

dance

Charleston

Southern Atlantic port city

quickstep · tango · waltz · bunny hug · turkey trot · dance hall · jazz hands · syncopation · ragtime · ballroom

rebellion

suffragette

Militant women's voting advocate

bobbed hair · smoking · voting rights · defiant · nonconformist · bohemian · unconventional · liberated · provocative · avant-garde

mechanism

valve

Fluid flow controller

lever · float · ballcock · chain · plumbing · overflow · inlet · siphon · stopper · gasket

appendage

fin

Aquatic propulsion appendage

  • flipperMarine animal's swimming limb
  • wingLimb enabling flight
  • tailRear animal appendage

paddle · blade · fluke · pinion · webbed · aquatic · seal · penguin · sea lion · walrus

Categories
Opposites
cultural era and values

flapperVictorian lady

Woman from 1837-1901 Britain

proper lady · prude · debutante · grande dame · dowager

feminine behavioral norms

flapperwallflower

Shy person avoiding socializing

shrinking violet · prude · ingenue · homebody · housewife

generational stance

flappertraditionalist

Adherent to established customs

conformist · mother · grandmother · matriarch · chaperone

Phrases
Family

flapping, unflappable, flapped, flappy, unflappability, flappers

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Mostly American · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G