flake

/fleɪk/

//fleɪk// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"flake" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“flake” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,087. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#22,087
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything

Corpus desk

Index EN-flake · flake · English

flake · rank #22,087 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,087
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fifties

Nearest frequency peer: fifties (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “flake”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “flake” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

flake vs flat
60% similar
flake vs flee
60% similar
flake vs flaw
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for flake
PropertyValue
Headwordflake
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/fleɪk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#22,087
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “flake” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).flakelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “fifties” (#22,085), “forensics” (#22,089), “ferocious” (#22,084). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around flake (IPA /fleɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #22,087 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for flake, with forms such as "falke", "fflake", and "flaek". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "flat", "flee", "flaw", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English flacca and/or Old Norse flak (“loose or torn piece”) (compare Old Norse flakna (“to flake or chip”)), from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, bro… The correct English form is flake, spelled F-L-A-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything
  2. 2
    A scale of a fish or similar animal
  3. 3
    A prehistoric tool chipped out of stone.
  4. 4
    A person who is impractical, flighty, unreliable, or inconsistent; especially with maintaining a living.
  5. 5
    A carnation with only two colours in the flower, the petals having large stripes.
  6. 6
    A flat turn or tier of rope.
  7. 7
    A corrupt arrest, e.g. to extort money for release or merely to fulfil a quota.
  8. 8
    A wire rack for drying fish.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how flake appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. There were a few flakes of paint on the floor from when we were painting the walls.
  2. flakes of dandruff

Etymology

From Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English flacca and/or Old Norse flak (“loose or torn piece”) (compare Old Norse flakna (“to flake or chip”)), from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”). Cognate with Norwegian flak (“slice, sliver”, literally “piece torn off”), Swedish flak (“a thin slice”), Danish flage (“flake”), German Flocke (“flake”), Dutch vlak (“smooth surface, plain”) and vlok (“flake”), as well as with Latin plaga (“flat surface, district, region”) and Welsh llech (“slate, tablet”). Doublet of plage.

This word in other languages

escama(Español)éclat(Français)Flocke(Deutsch)furão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • falke
  • fflake
  • flaek
  • flakke
  • flkae
  • fllake
  • lfake

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flake - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

falke2fflake1flaek2flakke1flkae2fllake1lfake2
Edit distance from "flake"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "flake"?
"flake" is spelled F-L-A-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /fleɪk/.
What does "flake" mean?
As a noun, "flake" means: A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything
What words are commonly confused with "flake"?
"flake" is commonly confused with "flat", "flee", "flaw". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "flake"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "flake" is /fleɪk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "flake"?
From Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English flacca and/or Old Norse flak (“loose or torn piece”) (compare Old Norse flakna (“to flake or chip”)), from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "flake", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Halle#22,104Hasan#22,108ionic#22,124chico#22,032

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Hutton7 variantscutoff7 variantsLovin7 variantsbouts7 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "flake". Here's where to go from here.

  • "flake" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "flat". View pair
  • 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #22,087 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list