flare

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /flɛr/ UK /fleə/ See IPA manual

Homophones

flair /flɛr/

Meanings

1

noun
a sudden bright burst of flame or light; a signaling fire

A distress flare lit up the night sky.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sudden bright burst of... blaze flame burst glare beacon signal flash

Opposites

dim fade extinguish

Word family

Derived forms flaredflaringflarer

Related forms flair

Etymology

Of uncertain origin, attested from the 16th century; possibly of Scandinavian origin or related to Middle Low German vlederen ('to flutter'). Sometimes connected to flame by association.

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# flare

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

## Meanings
1. a sudden bright burst of flame or light; a signaling fire

## Examples
- A distress flare lit up the night sky.

## Synonyms
- blaze
- flame
- burst
- glare
- beacon
- signal
- flash

## Antonyms
- dim
- fade
- extinguish

## Derived Forms
- flared
- flaring
- flarer

## Related Forms
- flair

## Etymology
Of uncertain origin, attested from the 16th century; possibly of Scandinavian origin or related to Middle Low German vlederen ('to flutter'). Sometimes connected to flame by association.

## AI Etymology
Flare is of uncertain origin, attested from the 16th century; possibly of Scandinavian origin or related to Middle Low German vlederen ('to flutter'). Sometimes connected to flame by association. The history is deliberately cautious: the proposed comparison is useful for orientation, but the wording leaves room for uncertainty rather than forcing a false certainty. In present use, it is used as a noun and verb meaning "a sudden bright burst of flame or light; a signaling fire", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as flared, flaring, and flarer and related forms such as flair, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by blaze, flame, burst, and glare on one side and contrasts such as dim, fade, and extinguish on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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