flex
verb (used with object)
to bend, as a part of the body.
flex
1 American
[fleks]
/ flɛks /
verb (used with object)
flexes,
present (3rd person singular)
flexed,
past participle, past
flexing
present participle
-
to bend, as a part of the body.
He flexed his arms to show off his muscles.
-
to tighten (a muscle) by contraction.
-
to demonstrate (one’s ability, expertise, etc.).
She’s flexed her marketing skills for various clients in the publishing industry.
-
Slang. to boast or brag about; flaunt.
He’s just not into flexing his success.
verb (used without object)
flexes,
present (3rd person singular)
flexed,
past participle, past
flexing
present participle
-
to bend.
-
Slang. to boast or brag; show off.
In his rap lyrics he flexes about his fancy lifestyle.
noun
flexes
plural
-
the act of flexing.
-
Slang. a boast or brag.
It's not a flex, but we have the best burgers here.
-
British.
-
any flexible, insulated electric cord; an electric cord or extension cord.
-
Slang. an elastic band, as a garter.
-
-
Mathematics. an inflection point.
verb phrase
flex
2
American
[fleks]
/ flɛks /
adjective
flex-
3
American
Also
flexi-.
flex
British
/ flɛks /
noun
-
US and Canadian name: cord. a flexible insulated electric cable, used esp to connect appliances to mains
-
informal flexibility or pliability
verb
-
to bend or be bent
he flexed his arm
his arm flexed
-
to contract (a muscle) or (of a muscle) to contract
-
(intr) to work according to flexitime
-
to test or display (one's authority or strength)
Usage
What else does flex mean? Flex is a slang term meaning "to show off," whether it be your physique, your belongings, or some other thing you consider superior to those of others. The act of flexing is often criticized as a power move, considered arrogant and insincere.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
flexsimple
-
flexessimple
-
have flexedperfect
-
has flexedperfect
-
am flexingprogressive
-
are flexingprogressive
-
is flexingprogressive
-
have been flexingperfect progressive
-
has been flexingperfect progressive
Past
-
flexedsimple
-
had flexedperfect
-
was flexingprogressive
-
were flexingprogressive
-
had been flexingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flex1
First recorded in 1515–25; (adjective) from Latin flexus, past participle of flectere “to bend, turn”; (noun) from Latin flexus act of bending, equivalent to flect(ere) + -tus suffix of verbal action
Origin of flex2
Shortening of flexible
Explanation
When you flex something, you bend or contract it. To appear super tough, you might flex your archery bow while flexing your muscles. Things curve and bend when they flex, whether they're human joints or objects made of a bendable material like plastic or soft wood. Another way to flex is to tense or contract a muscle: "The weightlifter flexes her biceps." Experts suspect that flexible came first, from the Latin root flexibilis, "flexible, pliant, or yielding," and figuratively, "tractable, or easily influenced."
Vocabulary lists containing flex
Strike A Pose: Positions and Posture
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Dance - Introductory
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The Lemonade War
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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.
See Examples For:
That includes the walls, which can flex to instantly turn small offices into larger conference rooms, the finish of a large conference table and planting dozens of trees on the property.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
These two stories might seem like unrelated novelties — a viral toy and a tech-bro flex from a provincial government.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
It’s definitely, for me, a new muscle that I’m learning to use and explore and stretch and flex.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
Even Myers acknowledges that a key challenge in apparel is that it is "high flex" – in other words, you won't get very far if you just make white t-shirts.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
I caught my foot in the flex of the bedside lamp, and stumbled, the book falling from my hands on to the floor.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Better day care, plentiful jobs at decent wages, flex- time and job sharing would all help to reduce the stresses on American households, which are overtaxed, overburdened and overwhelmed.
From Time Magazine Archive
The spirit of old-school jazz, blues, big band and soul inhabits the record, which stretches out over 71 minutes, as Raye flexes her compositional muscles.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
As a hot piece of Cancon—the term for entertainment content made in Canada—”Heated Rivalry” capped a year of serious flexes for the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
That’s the only way to explain how its bodybuilding exhibitions look like Shakespeare performances, with balconies of people applauding nonstop as a soloist flexes onstage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025
"Imagine, for example, a heart implant that bends and flexes with each heartbeat but still lasts for years."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 27, 2024
She sits and her cane flexes against the gravel and the boy clicks his buttons in spasmodic flurries.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The gains come despite Alibaba previewing its new artificial-intelligence model—the second time in a week that China has flexed its advances in AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Except for when passengers, after taking turns at rigging, filed below deck to explore the ship’s white-oak skeleton, which flexed and creaked in the current—the ancient sounds of a seafaring world that’s all but lost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Last year, it flexed its economic and diplomatic muscle, responding to Trump with tit-for-tat tariffs and restricting the export of rare earth minerals essential for advanced manufacturing.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
It was not until Arteta flexed his strength in depth off the bench in the second period that Forest began to be stretched.
From Barron's ● Jan. 17, 2026
I see his Adam’s apple move like he’s gulping, and his hand muscles are flexed from where he’s gripping the steering wheel so hard.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
There’s the Total Wireless Weigh-In, which allows fans to take shirtless pictures of themselves flexing the way fighters do at weigh-in the day before they fight.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
This repeated flexing generates internal heat through friction, a process known as tidal heating.
From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026
Across the way, skateboarders do their thing on the Neighbors Skate Shop ramp, flipping and flexing, making sculptures out of their bodies in midair, while others double-dutch or Hula-Hoop in exacting harmony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
The most tapped-in collectors are trading, flexing and discussing watches on WhatsApp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
“Your father?” says a bearded man behind Doctor Snow, his fingers flexing along the stock of his rifle, tho not lifting it.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
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.
