- a thistle-like Eurasian annual plant, Carthamus tinctorius, having large heads of orange-yellow flowers and yielding a dye and an oil used in paints, medicines, etc: family Asteraceae (composites)
- a red dye used for cotton and for colouring foods and cosmetics, or a drug obtained from the florets of this plant
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
saf•flow•er
(saf′lou′ər),USA pronunciation n.
- Plant Biologya thistlelike composite plant, Carthamus tinctorius, native to the Old World, having finely toothed leaves and large, orange-red flower heads.
- Drugsits dried florets, used medicinally or as a red dyestuff.
- Arabic aṣfar yellow
- Middle French safleur, alteration (assimilated to safran saffron and fleur flower) of Italian asfori
- Dutch saffloer
- 1575–85
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
safflower /ˈsæflaʊə/ n
'safflower' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):