# flam

> English word · Noun · IPA /flæm/ · frequency rank #63,617

## Definitions
1. A freak or whim; an idle fancy.
2. A falsehood; a lie; an illusory pretext

## Etymology
17th century; from flim-flam, itself perhaps from a dialectal word or Scandinavian; compare Old Norse flim (“lampoon, mockery”).

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