Meaning & use
poinsettia
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A small tropical American plant often grown indoors, with colored leaf-like bracts around tiny yellow flowers; popular as a winter holiday plant.
Grammar: Usually countable: a poinsettia, two poinsettias; the plural is regular.
Patterns
- a poinsettia
- poinsettia plant
- red or white poinsettias
- decorate with poinsettias
We placed a red poinsettia by the fireplace during December.
The store sells white poinsettias in foil-wrapped pots.
She waters her poinsettia only when the soil feels dry.
Word forms
| plural | poinsettias |
|---|
Common combinations
- a red poinsettia
- A red poinsettia brightened the dark hallway.
- poinsettia plant
- The poinsettia plant needs bright, indirect light.
- potted poinsettias
- Potted poinsettias lined the entrance to the library.
- holiday decorations with poinsettias
- They chose holiday decorations with poinsettias and evergreen branches.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Euphorbia pulcherrima
- The technical botanical name; use it in science or gardening contexts, not ordinary conversation.
- Christmas flower
- A loose seasonal name in some places; poinsettia is the standard everyday word and clearer to most learners.
Commonly confused: poinsettia or poinsetta? poinsettia or petunia?
poinsettia vs poinsetta
Common misspelling; the accepted form is poinsettia, ending in -settia.
poinsettia vs petunia
A different common garden flower with trumpet-shaped blooms, not leaf-like bracts.
Practice
Choose the best completion: “For the winter party, we bought a ___ for the table.”
Choose one answer.
After “a,” you need a correctly spelled singular countable noun: “a poinsettia.” “Poinsettias” is plural, while “poinsetta” and “pointsettia” are common spelling errors.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “poinsettia”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.