Meaning & use
flake
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small, thin, flat piece that has come off a larger surface or fallen from the sky.
Grammar: Often appears in compounds: snowflake, flake of paint.
Patterns
- a flake of something
A flake of paint fell from the ceiling onto the table.
Snow fell in large, soft flakes.
He brushed the flakes of dead skin from his sleeve.
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
A person who is unreliable or tends to forget or cancel plans.
Grammar: Informal and mildly critical: he's a flake.
Patterns
- be a flake
Don't count on Jake; he's a total flake.
She felt like a flake after canceling for the third time.
I don't want to be a flake, but I can't come tonight.
verbintransitive
To break or peel off in small thin pieces.
Grammar: No object; often followed by off: the paint flakes off.
Patterns
- flake off
- flake away
The old paint was beginning to flake off the door.
Her sunburned skin flaked for a week.
The fish should flake easily with a fork.
verbintransitiveinformalAmerican
To cancel plans or fail to turn up, especially at the last minute.
Grammar: No object; often with on: she flaked on me.
Patterns
- flake on someone
- flake out
He flaked on dinner again.
I'm sorry I flaked on you last night.
Please don't flake out on us this weekend.
Word forms
| plural | flakes |
|---|---|
| third person singular | flakes |
| past tense | flaked |
| past participle | flaked |
| -ing form | flaking |
Common combinations
- flake of snow
- A single flake of snow landed on her glove.
- flake off
- The glaze began to flake off the bowl.
- flake on someone
- My partner flaked on me an hour before the party.
- flaky pastry
- The bakery is known for its flaky pastry.
- chili flakes
- Add a pinch of chili flakes to the sauce.
- flake out
- Don't flake out after we've made all these plans.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chip
- A chip is a small piece broken off something hard, while a flake is thinner and flatter.
- sliver
- A sliver is long and thin and often sharp, but a flake is broad and flat.
- cancel
- Cancel is neutral and works in any setting, while flake is informal and suggests unreliability.
- bail
- Bail is also informal for backing out, but it can sound more deliberate than flake.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: flake or flack?
flake vs flack
Flack means criticism or press agent, and is not related to flake.
Practice
Maya never shows up when she says she will. Her friends say she always ___ on them.
Choose one answer.
Flake on someone means fail to turn up, matching her behavior. The other verbs look similar but cannot take on someone with this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “flake”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.