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.
See Examples For:
Plus, Cher’s onstage flub, Bad Bunny’s strong words for ICE and Justin Bieber’s stripped-down performance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
“I’m glad you’re here,” the Grammy-winner adds, before seemingly poking fun at her flub.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
In a later appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Travolta said the flub was a result of him being flustered backstage after meeting Goldie Hawn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
“When I see somebody make a flub on TV, I’m really not all that concerned,” said well-known aging researcher S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 10, 2024
“I’m going to crack, Reynie. You know how badly I handle pressure. I’ll flub it tomorrow, and you’ll all be caught. What kind of friend will I be then?”
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
“You mean to tell me that Jerry Garcia or Bob Weir or Phil Lesh, the other vocalists in the band, were technically perfect vocalists who never flubbed a line?” he asked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Iamealeava stays after practice to correct throws he flubbed, repeating them each at least five times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025
I was grateful for Richard when I began doing another exercise video on repeat, one led by a frigid ballerina who never flubbed or joked.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2024
Aliyah Alpert, who finished ninth in 2022, missed the bee entirely last year because she flubbed the word “recoup” in the Yavapai County spelling bee in her home state of Arizona.
From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2024
There was one line she flubbed a bit, but Justin covered for her, and no one in the audience even noticed.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
When he ran for prime minister last year, there were real questions about whether he would take to the political side of the job, and he stumbled at times, flubbing his French, for instance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
The reasoning is straightforward: Why take a risk of legitimizing his rivals, or becoming a target on stage, or just flubbing, when you’re already in a category of your own?
From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2023
Bard did nearly as well, but it interpreted one “9” as a “0,” thus flubbing the final total.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 5, 2023
Rap icon Chuck D took it in stride after a contestant on “Jeopardy” went viral for flubbing an answer with him as the question.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2022
But when a man flubbed a job, and kept on flubbing it, then Mr. Henry Grenoble stepped in and carried out his own job—general managing.
From Sense from Thought Divide by Dongen, H. R. van
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.
