flutter
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To flap or wave quickly but irregularly.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fluhterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈflʌtɚ
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 flap or wave quickly but irregularly.
intransitive
Of a winged animal: to flap the wings without flying; to fly with a light flapping of the wings.
transitive
To cause something to flap.
transitive
To drive into disorder; to throw into confusion.
intransitive
To be in a state of agitation or uncertainty.
noun
The act of fluttering; quick and irregular motion.
The act of moving back and forth
A state of agitation.
An abnormal rapid pulsation of the heart.
Abnormally rapid beating of the auricles of the heart (especially in a regular rhythm); can result in heart block
british
A small bet or risky investment.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To flap or wave quickly but irregularly.
Used this way, flutter 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
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
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.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The motion made by flapping up and down.
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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.