flirt
/flɚt/noun, verb, adjective
flirt is spelled F-L-I-R-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, flirt means “A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of flirt is flirts.
How many letters and syllables are in flirt?
| Letters | 5: F-L-I-R-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.3 times per million words; the 14,509th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 flirt?
Flirt appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th 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 flirt?
- UK /flɜːt/
- US /flɚt/
- /flɪɾt/
Flirt 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-flirt.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with flirt?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as flirt from its last stressed vowel (/əɹt/):
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 flirt
- flirts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- flirting participle, present
- flirted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does flirt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion
- 2
Someone who flirts a lot or enjoys flirting; a flirtatious person.
Several young flirts about town had a design to cast us out of the fashionable world.
- 3
An act of flirting.
- 4
A tentative or brief, passing engagement with something.
- 5
A brief shower (of rain or snow).
- 6
Russula vesca, an edible woodland mushroom.
verb
- 1
To throw (something) with a jerk or sudden movement; to fling.
They flirt water in each other's faces.
- 2
archaicTo jeer at; to mock.
- 3
To dart about; to move with quick, jerky motions.
- 4
To blurt out.
- 5
To play at courtship; to talk with light affection, to imply sexual attraction in a playful (especially conversational) way.
- 6
To experiment, or tentatively engage, with; to become involved in passing with.
adjective
- 1
Flirtatious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Flirt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | coqueto, coqueta, ligón, mariposón, ligona , flirteo |
| French | flirt , draguer, flirter |
| German | Flirt , flirten, anbaggern, anmachen, aufreißen |
| Portuguese | flertar , dar em cima de alguém |
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 flirt come from?
1553, from the merger of Early Modern English flirt (“to flick”), flurt (“to mock, jibe, scorn”), and flirt, flurt (“a giddy girl”). Of obscure origin and relation. Apparently related to similar words in Germanic, all of apparently onomatopoeic origin, compare Low German flirt (“a flick of the fingers, a light blow”), Low German flirtje (“a giddy girl”), Low German flirtje (“a flirt”), German Flittchen (“a flirt; tart; hussy”), Norwegian flira (“to giggle, titter”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).