flicker
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to burn unsteadily; shine with a wavering light; blink on and off.
The candle flickered in the draft and went out.
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to move to and fro; vibrate; quiver.
The long grasses flickered in the wind.
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to flutter.
Her eyelids flickered, the only sign she'd been startled.
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to appear or occur briefly.
A smile flickered across his face.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an unsteady flame or light.
A dim flicker of lamplight was all that illuminated the room.
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a flickering movement.
The flicker of the snake's tongue was hypnotizing.
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a brief occurrence or appearance.
The thought of reinforcements gave them a flicker of hope.
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Slang. Often flickers flick.
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Ophthalmology. the visual sensation of flickering that occurs when the interval between intermittent flashes of light is too long to permit fusion.
noun
verb
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(intr) to shine with an unsteady or intermittent light
a candle flickers
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(intr) to move quickly to and fro; quiver, flutter, or vibrate
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(tr) to cause to flicker
noun
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an unsteady or brief light or flame
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a swift quivering or fluttering movement
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a visual sensation, often seen in a television image, produced by periodic fluctuations in the brightness of light at a frequency below that covered by the persistence of vision
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(plural) a US word for flick 2
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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flickersimple
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flickerssimple
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have flickeredperfect
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has flickeredperfect
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am flickeringprogressive
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are flickeringprogressive
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is flickeringprogressive
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have been flickeringperfect progressive
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has been flickeringperfect progressive
Past
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flickeredsimple
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had flickeredperfect
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was flickeringprogressive
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were flickeringprogressive
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had been flickeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flicker1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English verb flikeren, flekeren, Old English flicerian, flicorian “to flutter”; cognate with Dutch flikkeren
Origin of flicker2
An Americanism dating back to 1800–10; said to be imitative of the bird's note
Explanation
To flicker is to flash on and off at random. If your computer screen is flickering right now, you are probably having trouble reading this. Something that is flickering is flashing on and off in an unpredictable way. A fluorescent light may flicker for a while before it stops working. A flicker is also a quick flash or burst of light, like a glint or a spark. Similarly, flicker can refer to a sudden and short-lived feeling. A child opening a present might have a flicker of excitement before realizing that the box contains only tube socks and underwear.
Vocabulary lists containing flicker
Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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"The Song of Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats
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"The Song of Wandering Aengus" and "Sonnet 43," Vocabulary from the poems
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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:
Their pages don’t flicker with pop-up ads or interrupt one book to tell you about others you might want to read.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Nevertheless, Europe is benefiting from a flicker of activity in the defence sector, notably with the stock market debut in Amsterdam of Czech arms giant CSG, at $4.47 billion, the third-largest deal worldwide since January.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The flicker has largely been fixed, she adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
With her sharp features, geometric haircut and form-fitting black ensembles, she’s a Bond villain minus the martial arts skills — icy but with a flicker of feeling, which makes her interesting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
He watched Koffi's smile flicker for a moment, showing real confusion, before her expression hardened.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
It flickers a bit as she realizes that the Robin to whom she was so close—she raised him herself; his father was just a one-night fling—had a more complicated life than she knew of.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Inside an underground shelter at a hospital in the Israeli city of Haifa, a television screen flickers with images of Iranian missiles as doctors and midwives deliver Sarah Bird's third child.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
There have been flickers of improvement under German Rohl, who has won two of his first five games.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
“Put your hands up,” she says, while a classmate flickers the lights on and off.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2025
The light flickers on as I lock the door behind me.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
A lit candle flickered among the flowers, where a teddy bear was also perched.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
In one recording of a WhatsApp video call seen by AFP, the scammer, appearing lifelike as the prince, flickered on the screen.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Kylian Mbappe hovered surreptitiously in the shadows, only noticeable as the lights flickered off the beaming white number 10 on his broad royal blue back.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Claude Code was released to the public last year, months after it flickered to life on Cherny’s screen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 21, 2026
The lights flickered and Regan dug her nails into my arm.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Absorbed students carefully threaded wires into junction boxes to make circuits connected to lights, bulbs flickering on one by one to signal a job well done.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
The world watched as Bad Bunny and his dancers performed on top of utility poles, accompanied by sparks and flickering power lines across the stage.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Build a driveshaft for the second season, which was growing from a flickering hope to an alarming likelihood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
At one point father and baby ate grass together, the big grass fronds flickering around their heads as they chomped.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Thousands of lightning bugs had just started their flickering dance.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
