flipper
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
7 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "flipper", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "flipper" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "flipper" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
flipper is aEnglishnoun. It means: In marine mammals such as whales (or other aquatic animals such as sea turtles), a wide, flat limb adapted for swimming. Pronounced /ˈflɪpə/. Often confused with flier and flipped.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | flipper |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈflɪpə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #36,985 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for flipper is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈflɪpə/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,985 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for flipper, with forms such as "fflipper", "filpper", and "flipepr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "flier", "flipped", "flicker", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From flip + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Flappert (“flipper, wing”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is flipper, spelled F-L-I-P-P-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1In marine mammals such as whales (or other aquatic animals such as sea turtles), a wide, flat limb adapted for swimming.
- 2A wide, flat, paddle-like rubber covering for the foot, used in swimming.
- 3A flat lever in a pinball machine, triggered by the player to strike the ball and keep it in play.
- 4A small flat used to support a larger one.
- 5A type of ball bowled by a leg spin bowler, which spins backwards and skids off the pitch with a low bounce.
- 6Television remote control, clicker.
- 7The hand.
- 8A kind of false tooth, usually temporary.
- 9A kitchen spatula.
- 10Someone who flips, in the sense of buying a house or other asset and selling it quickly for profit.
- 11Someone who flips in any other sense, for example throwing a coin.
Etymology
From flip + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Flappert (“flipper, wing”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: fflipper,filpper,flipepr,fliper,flipperr,flippre,fllipper,flpiper,lfipper
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for flipper
Misspelling Variants of "flipper"
Frequency rank: #36,985 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index: