The Rice University Neologisms Database

skirt that hangs limply or is gathered and sewn at the top hem so that it is wavy My first hearing of this word was in the fall of 2005 when my friends started calling the new skirts in fashion by this name. It is used as a noun to describe a particular type of skirt. I believe they developed this word from taking the word flounce, which comes from the French word for pleat, and adding the suffix ending –y to make it a noun. It also has the sound of a cloth that flows and hangs loosely. It is back formation because the normal direction of derivation is reversed. Normally, a feature would get its name from the thing it was on, but instead the skirt got its name from the pleats.