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
"None of this is beer-proof let alone waterproof," says Prof Damian Bailey, with only the briefest flicker of somebody regretting their life choices.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
The coffees and lunches and dinners of that season flicker in my mind like a rom-com video montage.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
He watched Koffi's smile flicker for a moment, showing real confusion, before her expression hardened.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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
Despite the presence of mild frost on the part of Mira, whose face intermittently flickers with anxiety, disorientation and more deeply buried feelings, she and Beckett have accepted Edgar’s invitation to stop by.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
There have been flickers of improvement under German Rohl, who has won two of his first five games.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
Even in this abysmal situation, there are flickers of positivity for the Chargers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2025
It wasn’t unusual for flickers to be filmed in Chinatown.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
They flickered occasionally over McCullum's next three years in charge, but nothing like that heady first year.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The computer made it to Pixar’s campus, flickered to life and brought Woody and Buzz back from the dead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Families, in their various flavors, have been essential to television since that light first flickered on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
Flares were let off, ticker tape flickered in the air and a stunning tifo rose from the terraces with an accompanying banner reading "For my town, for my club".
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
Here, a small fire of sod flickered on a tiny, ash-laden hearth, and gave out frequent puffs of sharp, nose-tingling smoke.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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
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
These minute works are packed with detail: Their flickering candles, flitting moths and glowering skulls appear as if they’ve been excavated from some illuminated manuscript belonging to a long-vanished medieval sect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Her torches seemed to be flickering out, but that might have just been that Hazel was starting to lose consciousness.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
