flicker
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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flickers,
present (3rd person singular)
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flickered,
past participle, past
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flickering
present participle
-
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)
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flickers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flickered,
past participle, past
-
flickering
present participle
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
-
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
-
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:
A group could be deep in conversation when the puck sprang to life, producing a brief, collective flicker of delight.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Possible precedents flicker: Maya hieroglyphs, Buddhist mandalas, Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts, Bosch, Gauguin, feathered Trinidadian carnival masks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
“There was always a flicker of hope, and I don’t think we ever gave up on that,” says a soft-spoken Green, 43, sitting next to Forte.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 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
At the edge of the horizon, a flicker of movement caught her eye—something small and beige racing across the fields at incredible speed, leaving a vapor trail like a plane’s.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
As Digger and the president peer out a window, a light flickers.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 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
Yet the most exacting enactment of Rosenzweig’s theology was private, where truth flickers in the risky traffic between souls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
There have been flickers of improvement under German Rohl, who has won two of his first five games.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
Each letter flickers on one at a time,C-R-E-S-T-M-O-N-T , like filling in a crossword puzzle with neon letters.
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
As the lights flickered back on, baptism in blackout over, one attendee quipped that the show was now, officially, "very authentic".
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
Inexplicably, the lights flickered during the groom-mother dance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
They flickered occasionally over McCullum's next three years in charge, but nothing like that heady first year.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 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
Some of the fire flickered against the liquid, hissing out when it met the potion.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
With the flash of red tail lights flickering outside of the stadium, a sign of Dodgers fans already heading for the exits, Dodgers hitters went down in order in the final half inning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
“The flickering dream that there’s still a human role in mathematics isn’t completely killed off by this,” Timothy Gowers told me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
He saw Bori’s flickering silhouette gripping the bars.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
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
She slid it open and stared down the hallway to where the brightness of the lamps sent long flickering shadows dancing across the paneled wood before her eyes.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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