flitter
/ˈflɪtɚ/verb, noun
flitter is a verb meaning “To scatter in pieces” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled F-L-I-T-T-E-R, and it appears about once in every 17 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does flitter mean?
verb
- 1
To scatter in pieces.
- 2
To move about rapidly and nimbly.
- 3
To move quickly from one condition or location to another.
- 4
To flutter or quiver.
noun
- 1
A fluttering movement
- 2
A rag; a tatter; a small piece or fragment.
- 3
Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genus Hyarotis.
- 4
A small aircraft or spacecraft.
- 5
A small perceptible feeling
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce flitter?
- US /ˈflɪtɚ/
- US [ˈflɪɾɚ]
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of flitter
- flitters present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- flittering participle, present
- flittered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is flitter?
Flitter appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 124,184th 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).
Where does flitter come from?
From Middle English flytteren, frequentative form of flitten, flytten, flütten, possibly from Old Norse flytja (“to carry about, convey”), equivalent to flit + -er (frequentative suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).