# flack

> English word · Verb · IPA /flæk/ · frequency rank #30,799

## Definitions
1. To flutter; palpitate.
2. To hang loosely; flag.
3. To beat by flapping.

## Etymology
From Middle English flacken (“to palpitate, flutter”), from Old English *flaccian, from Proto-West Germanic *flakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *flakkōną (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-, which could be related to Ancient Greek πλάζω (plázō, “to turn away from”).
Akin to Middle Dutch vlacken (“to flicker, flash, sparkle”), Danish flakke (“to wander”), Swedish flacka (“to rove, rove about, ramble”), Icelandic flakka (“to move”). Compare also Icelandic flaka (“to flap, hang loose”), Swedish flaxa (“to flap, flutter”).

## Easily confused with
- **fuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-fuck)
- **flat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flat)
- **flag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flag)
- **flaw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flaw)
- **flap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flap)
- **flak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flak)
- **flax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flax)
- **frank** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-frank)
- **flash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flash)
- **flags** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flags)
- **flame** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flame)
- **flock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flock)
- **flank** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flank)
- **flare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flare)
- **flick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flick)
- **flair** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flair)
- **flake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flake)
- **flaps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flaps)
- **flask** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-flask)
- **frick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flack-vs-frick)

## Common misspellings (8)
`falck`, `fflack`, `flacck`, `flackk`, `flakc`, `flcak`, `fllack`, `lfack`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/flack