flunk
/flʌŋk/verb
flunk is spelled F-L-U-N-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, flunk means “Of a student, to fail a class; to not pass” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in flunk?
| Letters | 5: F-L-U-N-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 77,666th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is flunk?
Flunk appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th 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 flunk?
- /flʌŋk/
Flunk 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-flunk.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of flunk
- flunks present, singular, he/she/it
- flunking participle, present
- flunked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does flunk mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
USOf a student, to fail a class; to not pass.
He flunked math, again.
- 2
USOf a teacher, to deny a student a passing grade.
Unsatisfied with Fred's progress, the teacher flunked him.
- 3
USTo fail any challenge
- 4
USdatedinformalTo shirk (a task or duty).
- 5
USTo back out through fear. (Commonly in the phrase 'flunk it', the 'it' referring to a specific task avoided; sometimes without specific reference, describing a person's attitude to life in general.)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Flunk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | louper |
| German | durchfallen , durchfallen lassen |
| Portuguese | reprovar, chumbar |
| Spanish | aplazar, reprobar, suspender, catear, raspar, sacar nota roja |
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 flunk come from?
Alteration of funk, or perhaps a blend of flinch + funk.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).