Synonyms for butterfly

Most common

chat up · romance · flirt · coquette

All synonyms

Verb

Noun

Definitions

1. v. 1

   To cut (food) almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.

   Butterfly the chicken before you grill it.

2. n. 1

   A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.

Related words

Word family

butterflyfish

Phrases

butterfly nut butterfly weed butterfly milkweed milkweed butterfly monarch butterfly social butterfly bird-winged butterfly brush-footed butterfly

Is a kind of

lepidopteran

Forms

Plural

butterflies → dollies, balimbings…

Past participle

butterflied
e.g. butterflied → coquetted, romanced, flirted, mashed…

Example sentences

• romance I have studied all the national Romance languages.
• flirt Yanni liked very much to flirt with young women.

Popularity over time

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters

mash¹

5 letters

flirt¹, dolly²

7 letters

romance²

8 letters

coquette

9 letters

philander³, balimbing

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (dolly² = 2 syllables).