flannel
flan·nel/ˈflænəl/noun, adjective, verb
flannel is spelled F-L-A-N-N-E-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables (flan·nel). It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, flannel means “A soft cloth material originally woven from wool, today often combined with cotton or synthetic fibers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of flannel is flannels.
How many letters and syllables are in flannel?
| Letters | 7: F-L-A-N-N-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: flan·nel |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is flannel?
Flannel appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th 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 flannel?
- /ˈflænəl/
Flannel has 2 syllables, split flan·nel in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-flannel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of flannel
- flannels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- flanan
- flanning
- flanen
- flanneling US, participle, present
- flannelling UK, participle, present
- flanneled US, participle, past
- flannelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does flannel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A soft cloth material originally woven from wool, today often combined with cotton or synthetic fibers.
With the weather turning colder, it was time to dig out our flannel sheets and nightclothes.
- 2
UKA washcloth.
- 3
USA flannel shirt.
- 4
slangSoothing, plausible untruth or half-truth; claptrap.
Don't talk flannel!
- 5
UKobsoleteSynonym of flip (“hot mixture of beer, spirit, etc.”).
adjective
- 1
Made of flannel.
verb
- 1
To rub with a flannel.
- 2
To wrap in flannel.
- 3
To flatter; to suck up to.
- 4
slangTo waffle or prevaricate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Flannel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense soft cloth material:
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 flannel come from?
From Middle English flaunneol, from Anglo-Norman flanelle (compare Norman flianné), diminutive of Old French flaine, floene (“coarse wool”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *wlānos, *wlanā (“wool”) (compare Welsh gwlân, Breton gloan), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂. More at wool.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).