Consider the following entry from the 11th edition of Merriam-Webster's, and perhaps you, too, will mock Merriam:

flaunt
Pronunciation: \'flont, 'flänt\
Function: verb
Etymology: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse flana to rush around
Date: 1566

intransitive verb 1: to display or obtrude oneself to public notice <a great flaunting crowd — Charles Dickens>

2: to wave or flutter showily <the flag flaunts in the breeze>

transitive verb 1: to display ostentatiously or impudently : PARADE <flaunting his superiority>

2: to treat contemptuously <flaunted the rules — Louis Untermeyer>

usage Although transitive sense 2 of flaunt undoubtedly arose from confusion with flout, the contexts in which it appears cannot be called substandard <meting out punishment to the occasional mavericks who operate rigged games, tolerate rowdyism, or otherwise flaunt the law — Oscar Lewis> <observed with horror the flaunting of their authority in the suburbs, where men…put up buildings that had no place at all in a Christian commonwealth — Marchette Chute> <in our profession…very rarely do we publicly chastise a colleague who has flaunted our most basic principles — R. T. Blackburn, AAUP Bulletin>. If you use it, however, you should be aware that many people will consider it a mistake. Use of flout in the sense of flaunt 1 is found occasionally < “The proper pronunciation,” the blonde said, flouting her refined upbringing, “is pree feeks” — Mike Royko>.