Meaning & use
flack
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Meanings
nouncountableinformalAmerican
A person whose job is to promote a client, company or cause to the press and public.
Grammar: Countable: a studio flack; two flacks.
Patterns
- a flack for someone
- a press flack
The senator's flack answered every call from reporters.
She worked as a flack for a big record label.
A hotel flack sent us a pile of glossy photos.
noununcountableinformal
Heavy criticism, a variant spelling of flak.
Grammar: Uncountable and often used with take or catch: he took a lot of flack.
Patterns
- take flack for something
- catch flack
The mayor took a lot of flack for the delay.
I caught flack from my sister for borrowing her car.
The company got flack over the new logo.
Word forms
| plural | flacks |
|---|
Common combinations
- press flack
- A press flack handed reporters a short statement.
- studio flack
- A studio flack arranged the interviews.
- hire a flack
- The singer hired a flack to repair her image.
- take flack
- The coach took flack after the loss.
- political flack
- Every political flack in town came to the dinner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- publicist
- Publicist is neutral and professional, while flack is slangy and can sound mocking.
- spokesperson
- Spokesperson formally speaks on behalf of an organization, while a flack works to spin the story.
- spin doctor
- Spin doctor stresses twisting the facts for political benefit, which flack does not always imply.
- PR person
- PR person is neutral and common in speech, while flack has a more cynical tone.
Word family
Commonly confused: flack or flak?
flack vs flak
Flak is the usual spelling for criticism and for anti-aircraft fire. Flack is mainly used for press agents.
Practice
A reporter calls the company's press agent a 'flack'. The word is best described as ___.
Choose one answer.
Flack is informal American slang, often used with a mocking tone. It is not formal or respectful.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “flack”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.