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flicker

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A momentary flash of light.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fliker

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈflɪkɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A momentary flash of light

  2. An unsteady flash of light.

  3. figurative

    A short moment.

  4. One who flicks.

  5. colloquial

    A television remote control.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To burn or shine unsteadily, or with a wavering light.

  2. intransitive

    To keep going on and off; to appear and disappear for short moments; to flutter.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A momentary flash of light

Used this way, flicker is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use flicker

  • “The candle flickered.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

flicker noiselast flickercritical flickerflicker fusionflicker frequencyeyes flickerfaint flickerbrief flicker

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • flickverbBase word

    Flash intermittently.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • gilded flickernounCompound term

    Southwestern United States bird like the yellow-shafted flicker but lacking the red neck.

  • red-shafted flickernounCompound term

    Western United States bird with red undersurface to wings and tail.

  • yellow-shafted flickernounCompound term

    Large flicker of eastern North America with a red neck and yellow undersurface to wings and tail.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: momentary flash of light

glint

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.