Skip to main content
PlainSpell

flip

/flɪp/noun, verb, interjection, adjective

flip is spelled F-L-I-P: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, flip means “A maneuver which rotates an object end over end” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of flip is flips.

How many letters and syllables are in flip?

Letters4: F-L-I-P
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing16 times per million words; the 5,121st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 flip?

Flip appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,121st 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 flip?

  • /flɪp/

Flip 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-flip.ogg, En-au-Flip.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of flip

  • flips plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • flipping participle, present
  • flipped participle, past
  • flipper comparative
  • flippest superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does flip mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A maneuver which rotates an object end over end.

    We'll decide this on a flip of a coin.

  2. 2

    A complete change of direction, decision, movement etc.

  3. 3

    archaicA fillip or light blow.

  4. 4

    datedA whit or jot; the tiniest amount.

    I don't care a flip for what he says.

  5. 5

    A short flight.

  6. 6

    USslangA slingshot.

  7. 7

    A hairstyle popular among boys in the 1960s–70s and 2000s–10s, in which the hair goes halfway down the ears, at which point it sticks out

    Justin Bieber and Zac Efron are among the celebrities who wore a flip.

  8. 8

    informalThe purchase of an asset (usually a house) which is then improved and sold quickly for profit.

  9. 9

    A mixture of beer, spirit, etc., stirred and heated by a hot iron (a “flip dog”).

    I frequently took of large potations, though not of champagne certainly, but port, strong ales, and punch, and when our funds were low as sometimes happened, hot flip […] .

verb

  1. 1

    To throw so as to turn over.

    You need to flip the pancake onto the other side.

  2. 2

    To put into a quick revolving motion through a snap of the thumb and index finger.

    If you can't decide which option to go for, flip a coin.

  3. 3

    USTo win a state (or county) won by another party in the preceding elections.

    Wisconsin had been Democratic for decades, but the Republicans flipped it in 2016.

  4. 4

    USTo turn state's evidence; to agree to testify against one's co-conspirators in exchange for concessions from prosecutors.

    The mafioso flipped on his superiors to get a lighter sentence.

  5. 5

    USTo induce someone to turn state's evidence; to get someone to agree to testify against their co-conspirators in exchange for concessions.

    The district attorney was able to strengthen his case against the bank robber by flipping the getaway driver.

  6. 6

    slangTo go berserk or crazy; to get extremely angry.

    I'd flip if anyone broke my phone.

  7. 7

    slangTo go berserk or crazy; to be extremely thrilled or enthusiastic.

  8. 8

    slangTo purchase and resell assets (often real estate or artworks) for immediate short-term profit.

    Those companies have been flipping houses in the real estate market for years.

interjection

  1. 1

    UKcolloquialUsed to express annoyance, especially when the speaker has made an error.

    What the flip just happened?

adjective

  1. 1

    UKinformalHaving the quality of playfulness, or lacking seriousness of purpose.

    I hate to be flip, but perhaps we could steal a Christmas tree.

  2. 2

    Sarcastic.

  3. 3

    informalDisrespectful, flippant.

    Don't get flip with me or I'll knock you into next Tuesday!

noun

as Flip
  1. 1

    derogatoryslangA Filipino; a person who is of Filipino background.

noun

as FLIP
  1. 1

    Acronym of flexible loan insurance plan.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Flip in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishvolteo (maneuver which rotates an object end-over-end), cambio de sentido, preposteración (complete change of direction), alas, peinado flip (hairstyle), darle vuelta (to throw (as in to turn over))
Frenchretourner (to throw (as in to turn over)), donner une pichenette (to put into a quick revolving motion through a…)
Germanumdrehen, wenden, schwenken (to throw (as in to turn over)), werfen (to put into a quick revolving motion through a…), ausflippen (to go berserk or crazy)
Portuguesevirar (to throw (as in to turn over)), flipar (to go berserk or crazy)

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 flip come from?

Alteration of earlier fillip, from Middle English filippen (“to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers”), an attenuated variation of flappen (“to flap, clap, slap, strike”). Cognate with Dutch flappen (“to flap”), German flappen (“to flap”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after flip