flog

/flɒɡ/

//flɒɡ// verb

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

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

The verdict

“flog” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,629. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#41,629
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To whip or scourge as punishment.

Corpus desk

Index EN-flog · flog · English

flog · rank #41,629 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #41,629
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fluorine

Nearest frequency peer: fluorine (+2 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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “flog”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “flog” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

flog vs fo
50% similar
flog vs for
50% similar
flog vs fly
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for flog
PropertyValue
Headwordflog
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/flɒɡ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#41,629
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “flog” sits in English frequency

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).floglands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “fluorine” (#41,631), “flushes” (#41,632), “Fawkes” (#41,625). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around flog (IPA /flɒɡ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #41,629 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for flog, with forms such as "fflog", "flgo", and "fllog". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fo", "for", "fly", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *floggen (suggested by flogge (“hammer, sledge”), from Old English *floggian, a stem variant of Proto-Germanic *flukkōną (“to beat”), itself a secondary zero-grade iterative with unetymological -u-, derived from *flōkaną. The original ze… The correct English form is flog, spelled F-L-O-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    To whip or scourge as punishment.
  2. 2
    To use something to extreme; to abuse.
  3. 3
    To sell.
  4. 4
    To steal something.
  5. 5
    To defeat easily or convincingly.
  6. 6
    To overexploit (land), as by overgrazing, overstocking, etc.
  7. 7
    To beat away charcoal dust etc. using a flogger.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I did seven laps of Fyshwick with the mechanic today. I was turning lots of heads on the last few, people must of thought I was nuts, flogging the car then stopping, then driving slow then flogging it again.
  2. And then there's my part time job at Telstra Bigpond flogging their cable network for just $67.55/month long term cost, a BARGAIN, and the other part time job flogging Foxtel at something like $50/month.

Etymology

From Middle English *floggen (suggested by flogge (“hammer, sledge”), from Old English *floggian, a stem variant of Proto-Germanic *flukkōną (“to beat”), itself a secondary zero-grade iterative with unetymological -u-, derived from *flōkaną. The original zero-grade iterative *flakkōną had been misinterpreted as an o-grade. See flack (“to beat”), also as a dialectal noun "a blow, slap". Cognate with Scots flog (“a blow, stripe, flogging”, noun), Scots flog (“thin strip of wood”), Norwegian flak (“a piece torn off, strip”). Alternatively, a back-formation from flogger, from Low German flogger (“a flail”).

This word in other languages

azotar(Español)flageller(Français)geißeln(Deutsch)açoitar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • fflog
  • flgo
  • fllog
  • flogg
  • folg
  • lfog

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flog - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

fflog1flgo2fllog1flogg1folg2lfog2
Edit distance from "flog"

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 "flog"?
"flog" is spelled F-L-O-G. The IPA pronunciation is /flɒɡ/.
What does "flog" mean?
As a verb, "flog" means: To whip or scourge as punishment.
What words are commonly confused with "flog"?
"flog" is commonly confused with "fo", "for", "fly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "flog"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "flog" is /flɒɡ/. 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 "flog"?
From Middle English *floggen (suggested by flogge (“hammer, sledge”), from Old English *floggian, a stem variant of Proto-Germanic *flukkōną (“to beat”), itself a secondary zero-grade iterative with unetymological -u-, derived from *flōkaną. The o... 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 "flog", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

DMCA#41,597crim#41,573chub#41,556Joao#41,711

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

HIPAA6 variantsinane6 variantslabia6 variantsLivia6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "flog". Here's where to go from here.

  • "flog" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "fo". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #41,629 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list