flaky
/ˈfleɪki/adjective
flaky is spelled F-L-A-K-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, flaky means “Consisting of flakes or of small, loose masses; lying, or cleaving off, in flakes or layers; flakelike” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in flaky?
| Letters | 5: F-L-A-K-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is flaky?
Flaky appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce flaky?
- /ˈfleɪki/
Flaky has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-flaky.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of flaky
- flakier comparative
- flakiest superlative
- flakey
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does flaky mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Consisting of flakes or of small, loose masses; lying, or cleaving off, in flakes or layers; flakelike.
- 2
informalUnreliable; likely to make plans with others but then abandon those plans.
- 3
informalUnreliable; working only on an intermittent basis; likely due to malfunction.
I cannot enjoy the online game because of my flaky Internet connection.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Flaky in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | flockig, blättrig, schuppig, aus Schichten bestehend, exzentrisch , unzuverlässig |
| Spanish | hojaldrado , poco / no / nada fiable, faltón, malqueda |
| French | lâcheur |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does flaky come from?
From flake + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).