flaky
Americanadjective
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of or like flakes.
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lying or cleaving off in flakes or layers.
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Slang. eccentric; wacky; dizzy.
a flaky math professor.
adjective
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like or made of flakes
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tending to peel off or break easily into flakes
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Also: flakey. slang eccentric; crazy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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flakinessnoun
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nonflakilynessnoun
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nonflakyadjective
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unflakyadjective
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flakilyadverb
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nonflakilyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of flaky
First recorded in 1570–80; 1965–70 flaky for def. 3; flake 1 + -y 1; sense of flaky def. 3 probably flake 4 + -y 1, though influenced by flake 1
Explanation
If you are flaky, you are off-beat and you probably don’t function in society quite like everyone else. If you say you’ll come to a party and then forget to show up, you are flaky. People are flaky (also spelled flakey) if they are wacky and unconventional, but to say someone is flaky is not really a compliment. If you want to buffer the blow of calling your friend an odd-ball, don’t say she’s flaky — say she’s eccentric. Pie crusts, snow, certain rocks, and dandruff can also be flaky, which means that they come apart in layered bits. Flakiness is a good thing for pie crusts, but not for your scalp.
Vocabulary lists containing flaky
Long Way Down
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Voilà: Croissant Lingo
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The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Flaky hake-fish in a light, briny parsley sauce and an emulsion of olive oil, on a bed of smashed potatoes.
From Salon • Nov. 8, 2025
Flaky ashes swirled in the air, which smelled of incense.
From New York Times • May 18, 2022
Exhibit A: Flaky roti canai flatbread subs for corn tortillas in the fried chicken tacos, a terrific and full-throated bite.
From Washington Post • Dec. 20, 2017
Q. Flaky fertile friend: I have a friend whom I was extremely close with up until about a year ago.
From Slate • Jun. 7, 2016
Flour * * 1 teaspoonful Anchovy Sauce * * 1 gill Milk * * Pepper, Salt and Lemon Juice * * Flaky Pastry—6 1/2d.
From The Art of Living in Australia ; together with three hundred Australian cookery recipes and accessory kitchen information by Mrs. H. Wicken by Muskett, Philip E.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
