poppy1 the type of something where the showy look is not matched by real worth.

References are also made to the story of the legendary Roman king Tarquin the Proud (see Tarquinius), who is said to have demonstrated how to deal with presumption or rebellion by silently striking off the heads of a row of poppies.

From the 19th century, the scarlet poppy has been seen as emblematic of those who have died in war. In the 20th century, the poppy as a symbol has been associated particularly with the dead of the two World Wars.
Poppy Day another name for Remembrance Sunday.

See also Flanders poppy, tall poppy syndrome.

poppy. Long recognized as an opiate, the seed-pods and flowers of the poppy were commonly used in Neo-Classicism as ornaments in bedrooms and funerary architecture, being associated with the twin brothers, children of Night, Sleep and Death. Poppy motifs were much used by Percier and Fontaine in Empire design, and they were common elements of Art Nouveau.

poppy Any annual or perennial plant of the genus Papaver, family Papaveraceae, or any related plant. About 100 species of the genus exist. They have bright red, orange or white flowers, often with dark centres, with four thin, overlapping petals and two thick sepals; all produce the milky sap, latex. The unripe capsules of the Asian opium poppy are used to produce the drug opium. Plants closely related to the true poppy include the California poppy and the Welsh poppy.

pop·py / ˈpäpē/ • n. a herbaceous plant (Papaver, Eschscholzia, and other genera) with showy flowers, milky sap, and rounded seed capsules. Many poppies contain alkaloids and are a source of drugs such as morphine and codeine. The poppy family (Papaveraceae) also includes the corydalis, greater celandine, and bloodroot.

poppy2 poppy head an ornamental top on the end of a church pew. The term is recorded from late Middle English, and although it has been suggested that the first element represents French poupée ‘baby, puppet’, or English poppet, puppet, this appears to be without foundation.