flaw
/flɔ/noun, verb
flaw is spelled F-L-A-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, flaw means “A crack or breach, a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of flaw is flaws.
How many letters and syllables are in flaw?
| Letters | 4: F-L-A-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.0 times per million words; the 12,940th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is flaw?
Flaw appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th 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 flaw?
- UK /flɔː/
- British /floː/
- US /flɔ/
As a noun (“A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration; windflaw”): /ˈflɔː/.
Flaw has one syllable (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-flaw.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with flaw
Sounds like: floor (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with flaw?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as flaw from its last stressed vowel (/ɔ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of flaw
- flaws plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- flawing participle, present
- flawed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does flaw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA flake, fragment, or shiver.
- 2
obsoleteA thin cake, as of ice.
- 3
A crack or breach, a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion.
There is a flaw in that knife.
- 4
A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.
- 5
An inclusion, stain, or other defect of a diamond or other gemstone.
- 6
A defect or error in a contract or other document which may make the document invalid or ineffective.
a flaw in a will, in a deed, or in a statute
- 7
A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration; windflaw.
- 8
A storm of short duration.
- 9
A sudden burst of noise and disorder
verb
- 1
To add a flaw to, to make imperfect or defective.
- 2
To become imperfect or defective; to crack or break.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Flaw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | défaut, fissure , faille , crapaud , bourrasque , tumulte |
| German | Sprung, Riss, Absplitterung, Schaden , Makel, Fehler |
| Portuguese | falha, defeito , erro |
| Spanish | falla , imperfección, desperfecto, pega , defecto |
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 flaw come from?
From Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flagō (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *plok- (“broad, flat”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).