flirt
verb · noun · adjective
Simple meaning
To play at courtship.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
flurtIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈflɝt
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To play at courtship; to talk with teasing affection, to insinuate sexual attraction in a playful (especially conversational) way.
intransitive
To experiment, or tentatively engage, with; to become involved in passing with.
transitive
To throw (something) with a jerk or sudden movement; to fling.
intransitive
To dart about; to move with quick, jerky motions.
transitive
To blurt out.
noun
An act of flirting.
Someone who flirts a lot or enjoys flirting; a flirtatious person.
A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion
A tentative or brief, passing engagement with something.
with "the"
Russula vesca, an edible woodland mushroom.
adjective
Flirtatious.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To play at courtship; to talk with teasing affection, to insinuate sexual attraction in a playful (especially conversational) way.
Used this way, flirt is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. Keep it for friendly, informal settings.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Playful and informal
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Playful behavior intended to arouse sexual interest.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Take into consideration, have in view.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.