Meaning & use
flashback
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Meanings
nouncountable
A scene in a film, book, or play that shows an event from an earlier time.
Grammar: Countable; can be used with a/an or in the plural: a flashback, several flashbacks.
Patterns
- a flashback to something
- in flashback
- use a flashback
The movie uses flashbacks to explain the hero's childhood.
The novel begins with a flashback to the summer of 1969.
The director cut to a flashback of the couple's first date.
nouncountable
A sudden, vivid memory of a past event, often one that was unpleasant or traumatic.
Grammar: Countable; often used with have or experience: have a flashback, experience flashbacks.
Patterns
- have a flashback
- experience flashbacks
- a flashback to something
Soldiers returning from war often have flashbacks.
She had a flashback to the accident when she heard the screech of tires.
Therapy helped him cope with the flashbacks.
Word forms
| plural | flashbacks |
|---|
Common combinations
- a flashback to
- The film opens with a flashback to the main character's wedding day.
- have a flashback
- He had a flashback to his time in the army.
- in flashback
- The story is told in flashback.
- flashback sequence
- The flashback sequence was shot in black and white.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reminiscence
- A more formal word for talking or thinking about past experiences; it is less specific and does not usually suggest a sudden, intrusive memory.
- memory
- The general word for something you remember; 'flashback' is stronger and suggests a vivid, sudden, often unwanted return of a past event.
Word family
- flash back phrasal verb
- To suddenly remember or show a past event: The film flashes back to his childhood.
Commonly confused: flashback or flash-forward?
flashback vs flash-forward
A scene that jumps ahead to the future, not back to the past.
Practice
The novel uses a ______ to show the character's life ten years earlier.
Choose one answer.
A 'flashback' shows an earlier event, which fits 'ten years earlier'. 'Flash-forward' would show a later event, 'foreshadowing' is a hint about the future, and 'backdrop' is the setting or background.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “flashback”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.