Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a woman (occas. a man) who does not join in dancing at a ball or dance, either through her inability to find a partner or through her desire to remain solo; thus a retiring, shy person ; used as a v. see cite 1907[fig. use of SE].

1819		R. Waln Hermit in America on Visit to Phila. 158: There is a class of maidens notoriously extensive, and technically termed ‘Wall-flowers.’.
a.1830		Praed County Ball n.p.: The maiden wallflowers of the room Admire the freshness of his bloom [F&H].
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn) 244: wall-flower a person who goes to a ball and looks on without dancing, either from choice or not being able to obtain a partner.
1865		G.A. Sala My Diary in America II 164: No gentlemen [...] perform the part of ‘wall-flowers,’ lounging against wainscots or door-jambs.
1873		Morn. Post 12 Mar. 7/6: Matilda (who does not like being a ‘wallflower!) — ‘You’ve no idea, Maud, how utterly idiotic you people dancing look to those who sit down and watch you’.
1885		Edinburgh Eve. News 14 Jan. 3/4: Just complaint is made in society [...] of the masher ‘wallflower,’ who declines to dance.
1886		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 4 Dec. 2/4: His friend [...] was chatting with wallflower In the corner.
1894		Truth (Sydney) 18 Mar. 2/6: [of a man] Tired of playing the ‘wall-flower’ part, I ventured [...] to ask a fair maid of the tobacco-twisting profession if I might ‘enjoy the pleasures of the next’.
1895		W. Pett Ridge Minor Dialogues 232: And I say (to Attentive Steward) choose good-looking Tottie for me, mind (Blasé Boys introduced to wall-flowers).
1907		C.E. Mulford Bar-20 vii: Hopalong, the only wallflower besides Baum and the sheriff, laughed until he became weak.
1907		Sun. Times (Perth) 11 Aug. 1/1: The bookie’s wife who wallflowered is defying anyone to prove it. [but] having no social chaperone she took the kitchen slavey as companion.
1914		S. Lewis Our Mr Wrenn (1936) 220: She [...] introduced to Mr. Wrenn a wallflower who came from Yonkers.
1916		J. Lait ‘Felice o’ the Follies’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 75: Felice was no prude or wallflower.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 694: He was dancing and sitting out with her the night of Georgina Simpsons housewarming and then he wanted to ram it down my neck on account of not liking to see her a wallflower.
1922		Seattle Star (WA) 18 July 2/5: The roulette wheel couldn’t accomodate the rush of gamblers, but the faro bank was very much a wallflower.
1934		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 261: If I hadn’t married him, he’d still be a wall-flower.
1935		Z.N. Hurston Mules and Men (1995) 64: Nobody asked me to dance. I was just crazy to get into the dance, too. [...] but it looked as if I was doomed to be a wallflower and that was a new role for me.
1948		Gloucs. Echo 11 Feb. 1/8: [advt for cod liver oil] Never a wallflower!
1960		E. De Roo Big Rumble 122: Get with it now. Be good sports. No wall flowers allowed.
1972		(con. 1916) G. Swarthout Tin Lizzie Troop (1978) 61: They could charm a lady out of her corset, and he was a born wallflower.
1980		P. Highsmith Boy Who Followed Ripley (1981) 205: You can’t expect me to sit there or stand all by myself like a wall-flower, can you, Max?
1999		Observer Rev. 12 Sept. 4: Like a wallflower at a party, I thought it was a lousy evening [...] nobody asked me to dance.
2008		Sun. Times (S. Afr.) 27 Jan. 22: This raucous party wasn’t an event for wallflowers.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1881		M.E. Braddon Asphodel xx n.p.: [...] sundry other dowagers arrived at the same wallflower stage of existence [F&H].
1928		R. Carr Rampant Age 162: He was sitting relaxed in one of the ‘wallflower’ chairs regaining his breath.
1942		A. Christie Body in the Library (1959) 121: Dancing with the neglected wallflower daughters of rich clients.
1988		P. Califia Macho Sluts 30: She dug her patient, wallflower lover out from under a table where she had fallen asleep.

3. (US Und.) a scrounger.

1918

H. Simon ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 32/2: WALLFLOWER. Bum who hung around a saloon and speared free drinks.

4. (UK prison) a prisoner obsessed with the possibility of escape [fig. use of sense 1].

1989

J. Morton Lowspeak.