flub
Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flub
An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; origin uncertain
Explanation
To flub something is to really mess it up. When a movie actor flubs his lines, the scene can be filmed again. But, if he's a stage actor, there's no way to fix the mistake. Even a star basketball player flubs an easy layup sometimes, and the very best students occasionally flub a quiz. The mistake or blunder itself can also be called a flub: "The concert was terrible, full of flubs." The word's been around since the 1920's, possibly influenced by words like "fluff" and "flop," and definitely coined in the United States.
Vocabulary lists containing flub
Awkward Moments
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Race to the Sun
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The Fourteenth Goldfish
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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.
Yesterday, we asked whether you’ve encountered an AI flub.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
You may have just one opportunity to rerecord an answer; if you flub that, there’s no taking it back.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
It wouldn’t be a 2024 campaign event without a verbal flub, and Trump delivered, calling the crowd “hard-working patri-isch-tic” before giving up on the sentence and moving on.
From Salon • May 24, 2024
The Tony Award winner, whose name was infamously mangled by John Travolta during the 2014 Oscars telecast, is laughing at the infamous flub a decade later.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2024
The first time through the bridge, I totally flub it.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
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.
