flake

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /fleɪk/ UK /fleɪk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like fleck /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Meanings

1

noun
a small thin fragment; an unreliable person; to peel off

A flake of paint drifted down from the ceiling.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a small thin fragment; an... chip scale fragment sliver wafer peel scab

Word family

Derived forms flakyflakerflakingflaked

Related forms flakilyflakiness

Common collocations

flake off Verb + adverb

Etymology

Of Germanic origin, probably from Old Norse flak ('flat piece') or a related Scandinavian form, akin to Old English flacor. The slang sense 'unreliable person' is 20th-century American.

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# flake

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /fleɪk/
**IPA (UK):** /fleɪk/

## Meanings
1. a small thin fragment; an unreliable person; to peel off

## Examples
- A flake of paint drifted down from the ceiling.

## Synonyms
- chip
- scale
- fragment
- sliver
- wafer
- peel
- scab

## Derived Forms
- flaky
- flaker
- flaking
- flaked

## Related Forms
- flakily
- flakiness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: flak

## Etymology
Of Germanic origin, probably from Old Norse flak ('flat piece') or a related Scandinavian form, akin to Old English flacor. The slang sense 'unreliable person' is 20th-century American.

## AI Etymology
Flake is of Germanic origin, probably from Old Norse flak ('flat piece') or a related Scandinavian form, akin to Old English flacor. The slang sense 'unreliable person' is 20th-century American. In present-day use, it means a small thin fragment; an unreliable person; to peel off. Derived formations include flaky, flaker, flaking, and flaked. Related vocabulary includes flakily and flakiness.

## Topics
- People & Society

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