flit

/flɪt/

//flɪt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"flit" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“flit” is uncommon English (frequency #55,441 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,441
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fluttering or darting movement.

Corpus desk

Index EN-flit · flit · English

flit · rank #55,441 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,441
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fletch

Nearest frequency peer: fletch (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “flit”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “flit” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for flit
PropertyValue
Headwordflit
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/flɪt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#55,441
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “flit” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).flitfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “fletch” (#55,440), “fishnet” (#55,439), “forthe” (#55,443). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “flit” is #55,441. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

flit is uncommon English at frequency #55,441 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /flɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for flit in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”). Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also… The correct English form is flit, spelled F-L-I-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fluttering or darting movement.
  2. 2
    A sudden departure from a property.
  3. 3
    A particular, unexpected, short lived change of state.
  4. 4
    A homosexual.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how flit appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I did a flit, as the landlord was due to arrive to collect the rent.
  2. let's do a moonlight flit, if the loanshark catches us here tomorrow without the money to pay our debts, he'll break our fingers.

Etymology

From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”). Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also Saterland Frisian flitskje (“to rush; run quickly”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "flit"?
"flit" is spelled F-L-I-T. The IPA pronunciation is /flɪt/.
What does "flit" mean?
As a noun, "flit" means: A fluttering or darting movement.
How do you pronounce "flit"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "flit" is /flɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "flit"?
From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”). Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Co... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "flit", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fila#55,436gnat#55,462jamb#55,525CPAP#55,353

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list