peacock tail
Ornate feather display
The tail of a male peacock, famous for its iridescent blue-green feathers marked with eye-like spots that fan into an elaborate display during courtship.
The peacock tail has become a standard example in evolutionary biology of sexual selection—a trait that seems disadvantageous for survival but persists because it attracts mates.
Figuratively, anything ostentatiously showy: His sports car was pure peacock tail.
- feathersBird's lightweight covering
- plumageBird's complete feather coat
- iridescentShowing shifting spectral colors
- displayPresentation for viewing
- courtshipSeeking another's romantic favor
train · eyespots · shimmer · strut · fan · fan out · spread · brilliant · blue · green · bronze · mating · sexual selection · proud · vanity · preening · colorful · magnificent
- iridescent plumagegorget
- fan shapeshand fan, folding fan, paper fan, Japanese fan, Spanish fan
- tails
- radial shapessunburst, starburst, pinwheel, asterisk, compass rose
- alchemyalchemy, alchemist, philosopher's stone, transmutation, elixir
- matingmating, breeding, courtship display, mating display, mating dance
peacock tailcamouflage
Concealment through visual blending
concealment · inconspicuousness · stealth · invisibility · protective coloration
peacock tailplainness
Unadorned, straightforward quality
simplicity · minimalism · austerity · minimalist design · utilitarian design
peacock, tail, cock, peacocks, tails, tailed, tailing, tailless