# flaw

> English word · Noun · IPA /flɔː/ · frequency rank #12,978

## Definitions
1. A flake, fragment, or shiver.
2. A thin cake, as of ice.
3. A crack or breach, a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion.
4. A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.
5. A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.
6. A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.

## Etymology
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”).
Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English flōh (“a fragment, piece”).

## Easily confused with
- **FW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-fw)
- **fly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-fly)
- **flu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flu)
- **Flo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flo)
- **FSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-fsa)
- **fra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-fra)
- **FTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-fta)
- **FTW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-ftw)
- **flow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flow)
- **flip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flip)
- **flew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flew)
- **fled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-fled)
- **flee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flee)
- **foam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-foam)
- **flex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flex)
- **flux** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flux)
- **flop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flop)
- **Fran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-fran)
- **flea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-flea)
- **fray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flaw-vs-fray)

## Common misspellings (6)
`falw`, `fflaw`, `flaww`, `fllaw`, `flwa`, `lfaw`

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