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
A sweating cop whistled the flivver to a stop, and out popped Wayne Morse.
From Time Magazine Archive
Once, as a "reverse Rhodes Scholar at Yale," chubby Geoffrey Crowther toured Georgia with three other collegians in a ramshackle flivver.
From Time Magazine Archive
Like Ziegfeld show girls, these unique planes drew first looks, but more serious attention went to the chorus of sturdy little troopers lumped by the name "flivver planes."
From Time Magazine Archive
He stood quiet, listening, looking toward the two figures on the far side of the dust-white flivver; they did not see him at all.
From The Mesa Trail by H. Bedford-Jones
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
