flake

¹ American  

[fleyk] / fleɪk /

noun

1. a small, flat, thin piece, especially one that has been or become detached from a larger piece or mass.

   flakes of old paint.

2. any small piece or mass.

   a flake of snow.

3. a stratum or layer.

4. Slang. an eccentric person; screwball.

   My sister's new boyfriend is a real flake—I can't imagine why she goes out with him.

5. Slang. cocaine.

6. a usually broad, often irregular piece of stone struck from a larger core and sometimes retouched to form a flake tool.

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verb (used without object)

flaked, flaking

1. to peel off or separate in flakes.

2. to fall in flakes, as snow.

verb (used with object)

flaked, flaking

1. to remove in flakes.

2. to break flakes or chips from; break into flakes.

   to flake fish for a casserole.

3. to cover with or as if with flakes.

4. to form into flakes.

flake ² American  

[fleyk] / fleɪk /

noun

1. a frame, as for drying fish.

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flake ³ American  

[fleyk] / fleɪk /

noun

1. fake.

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verb (used with object)

flaked, flaking

1. fake.

2. to lower (a fore-and-aft sail) so as to drape the sail equally on both sides over its boom.

flake ⁴ American  

[fleyk] / fleɪk /

verb (used without object)

Slang.

flaked, flaking

1. to back out of a plan, promise, engagement, agreement, etc.; fail to follow through on something (usually followed byout ).

   We had a 3 o’clock appointment, but he flaked on me an hour before.

2. to fall asleep; take a nap (usually followed byout ).

   She drank way too much and flaked out on my couch.

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flake ¹ British  

/ fleɪk /

noun

1. (in Australia) the commercial name for the meat of the gummy shark

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flake ² British  

/ fleɪk /

verb

1. nautical another word for fake 1

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flake ³ British  

/ fleɪk /

noun

1. a small thin piece or layer chipped off or detached from an object or substance; scale

2. a small piece or particle

   a flake of snow

3. a thin layer or stratum

4. archaeol

   1. a fragment removed by chipping or hammering from a larger stone used as a tool or weapon See also blade

   2. ( as modifier )

      flake tool

5. slang an eccentric, crazy, or unreliable person

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verb

1. to peel or cause to peel off in flakes; chip

2. to cover or become covered with or as with flakes

3. (tr) to form into flakes

flake ⁴ British  

/ fleɪk /

noun

1. a rack or platform for drying fish or other produce

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flake Scientific  

/ flāk /

1. A relatively thin, sharp-edged stone fragment removed from a core or from another flake by striking or prying, serving as a tool or blade itself or as a blank for making other tools.

2. See more at flake tool

3. A small, symmetrical, six-sided crystal of snow. Flakes can be large or small and wet or dry, depending on weather conditions. They are white in color because of their large number of reflecting surfaces.

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Other Word Forms

• flakeless
  adjective
• flaker
  noun

Etymology

Origin of flake¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; (noun) Middle English; akin to Old English flac- in flacox “flying (said of arrows),” Old Norse flakka “to rove, wander,” Middle Dutch vlacken “to flutter”; flake ¹ def. 4 by back formation from flaky, in sense “eccentric, odd”; (verb) late Middle English: “to fall in flakes,” derivative of the noun

Origin of flake²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English flake, fleke, from Old Norse flaki, fleki “bridge, hurdle”

Origin of flake³

First recorded in 1620–30; apparently variant of fake ²

Origin of flake⁴

First recorded in 1935–40; perhaps expressive variant of flag ³; compare British dialect flack “to hang loosely, flap”

Explanation

A flake is a tiny piece of something. A flake could be a tasty morsel like a croissant flake, or a not so tasty morsel — like a dandruff flake. Ewww. In some places, you can see flakes of mica, a shiny glimmering mineral, lining the banks of a pond or paths through the woods. There are also croissant flakes, dandruff flakes, and of course snow flakes, individual snow crystals. When something flakes, it comes off in tiny flecks: "The paint had started to flake off the kitchen wall." If someone calls you a flake, they basically mean you're a weirdo.

Example Sentences

“Unquestionably, everyone is worse off,” said Gordon Flake, chief executive at the Perth USAsia Centre at the University of Western Australia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

For a long stretch of her career, Flack produced her own albums, including 1975’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and 1977’s “Blue Lights in the Basement,” using the pseudonym Rubina Flake as a joke.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2025

Crumble and Flake on Capitol Hill: Nov. 12 marked the last day the smell of croissants graced Crumble and Flake Patisserie’s Capitol Hill location.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 25, 2023

Flake and his colleagues have been testing the system on lambs, which are often used in fetal research because they are developmentally similar to humans.

From Scientific American • Sep. 18, 2023

Flake by flake the green shoulders of the lady turned white.

From "Milkweed" by Jerry Spinelli

Related Words

• exfoliate
• sliver