flivver
Americannoun
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Older Slang. an automobile, especially one that is small, inexpensive, and old.
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Slang. something of unsatisfactory quality or inferior grade.
noun
Etymology
Origin of flivver
An Americanism dating back to 1905–10; origin uncertain
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.
The first car to make the crossing was in 1902, a brand-new vehicle called an Autocar, driven by the then-legendary master of the fancy flivver, Ralph Hamlin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
But as it turned out, the Progressive flivver was spared.
From Time Magazine Archive
The result would be a huge concern flexible enough to make anything from flivver planes to transoceanic skyliners, strong and ramified enough not to fear terrific post-war competition.
From Time Magazine Archive
Existing reciprocal trade laws, although considered revolutionary when first passed during Franklin Roosevelt's Administration, have long been as obsolete as the flivver.
From Time Magazine Archive
From the dust-white flivver alighted a tall, large woman clad in old but neat khaki, upon her head a black bonnet.
From The Mesa Trail by Bedford-Jones, H.
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.
