flirt
Americanverb (used without object)
-
flirts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flirted,
past participle, past
-
flirting
present participle
verb (used with object)
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flirts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flirted,
past participle, past
-
flirting
present participle
-
to give a sudden or brisk motion to; wave smartly, as a fan.
-
to throw or propel with a toss or jerk; fling suddenly.
verb
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(intr) to behave or act amorously without emotional commitment; toy or play with another's affections; dally
-
to deal playfully or carelessly (with something dangerous or serious); trifle
the motorcyclist flirted with death
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to think casually (about); toy (with)
to flirt with the idea of leaving
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(intr) to move jerkily; dart; flit
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(tr) to subject to a sudden swift motion; flick or toss
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
flirtsimple
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flirtssimple
-
have flirtedperfect
-
has flirtedperfect
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am flirtingprogressive
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are flirtingprogressive
-
is flirtingprogressive
-
have been flirtingperfect progressive
-
has been flirtingperfect progressive
Past
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flirtedsimple
-
had flirtedperfect
-
was flirtingprogressive
-
were flirtingprogressive
-
had been flirtingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flirt
First recorded in 1540–50; of expressive origin; compare similar initial cluster in flap, flick 1, flip 1 and final elements of squirt, spurt
Explanation
If you're interested in someone romantically, you might flirt with them, which means to chat them up or tease them in a playful way. Flirting is an indirect and fun way to let your crush know you're interested, like a seductive line or a few coy words. Or if there's a girl you've had your eye on, you might make a point of walking by her desk and saying hello every morning. But even if you don't have a love interest, you can still flirt. Driving carelessly is flirting with disaster: it's almost like you're toying with the idea of getting into an accident.
Vocabulary lists containing flirt
"Analysis of Baseball" and "Singing and Stretching"
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The Lions of Little Rock
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
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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:
Once everyone is locked in, COs get to lounge around inside the bubble: eat, drink coffee, flirt with each other, complain, maybe nap until they have to perform the 10:30 p.m. count.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
"Those years when you're sort of experimenting with how you show up in person with another person, how you flirt, how you think about intimacy, that was interrupted for many people," she says.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
When I sit down to meal plan, I open my grocery list in one tab and my supermarket’s app in another and let them flirt with each other for a few minutes.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
Wirries’ Star does more than flirt with the dark side, but in resisting the temptation to become part of the vampire pack she becomes worthy of Michael’s obsessive love.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
He and I have been exchanging looks for the past year as Susan and Caleb flirt in the tentative way known only to the Abnegation.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
The Sparks have a decision to make about how hard they want to push the rest of this season as the team flirts with missing the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
America flirts with it and folds, every single cycle.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2026
Stocks are set to continue their selloff as oil flirts with the $100-a-barrel level.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
Yes, she’s poor and he’s rich, but they’re both hustlers — one way he flirts is telling Lucy he sees potential in her intangibles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2025
He hates it when she flirts with others.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
That can be overwhelming - as Leicester City found out after their fairytale Premier League win back in 2015-16, when they flirted with relegation in their title defence season.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
But they’ve only flirted with filling the job of second assistant general manager.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Scheffler's surprising soliloquy about the importance of chasing golfing greatness caused a stir at Portrush last year and the four-time major winner flirted with similar territory at Birkdale.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
He had flirted with the idea of buying a franchise for years, but a local opportunity caught his and his girlfriend’s eye: a 30-year-old screen-printing and embroidery shop that had been battered by the pandemic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
The squirrels bumped along off the road, and a road-runner flirted its tail and raced over the edge of the hill and sailed out like a glider.
From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck
With culture shifts happening in restaurant kitchens, perhaps it was prudent to show Bourdain’s character merely flirting with the dark side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
She also hosts red carpet interviews at the Oscars - following a tried-and-tested formula of comedic flirting and uncomfortable silences - and runs her own production company.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
One ETF hoovering assets suggests that some investors are also diversifying by flirting with non-capitalization-weighting strategies.
From Barron's ● Apr. 15, 2026
Now it is flirting with the latter, weighing a massive merger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
The new leader also began flirting with reform.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
