flunk
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to fail to get a passing mark in.
to flunk math.
-
to give a failing grade to; remove (a student) as unqualified from a school or course.
noun
verb phrase
verb
-
to fail or cause to fail to reach the required standard in (an examination, course, etc)
-
to be dismissed from a school or college through failure in examinations
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
flunksimple
-
flunkssimple
-
have flunkedperfect
-
has flunkedperfect
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am flunkingprogressive
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are flunkingprogressive
-
is flunkingprogressive
-
have been flunkingperfect progressive
-
has been flunkingperfect progressive
Past
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flunkedsimple
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had flunkedperfect
-
was flunkingprogressive
-
were flunkingprogressive
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had been flunkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flunk
Explanation
To flunk is to do poorly on a test or in a class. One way to avoid flunking is to start studying several nights before a test. People have been flunking things ever since there were schools. However, we’ve only been calling it flunking since the 1800s. Originally, flunk could mean “to fail” or “to give up.” That’s a good reminder that sometimes, to avoid flunking, you just need to keep trying.
Vocabulary lists containing flunk
"Enabling or Disabling?" and "This I Believe"
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"Sparky"
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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:
The difference between dropping the SAT and dropping the civil service examination is that incompetent students flunk out in a year or so.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
It’s saying, “Oh, yay, I get to flunk another math test this week,” when what you mean is that you are freaked out about your consistently terrible grades in math class.
From Salon ● Nov. 29, 2024
If you flunk three times, as Moon did before passing on her fourth try, you have to pay another $41 fee to start a new round of test-taking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2023
This other teacher is going to flunk me.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 13, 2022
“She’s going to flunk tolerance education,” Jordie predicts.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
A driving examiner, she has the nickname “E-Z Pass,” because she never flunks an applicant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025
It was a loving and dutiful decision — the kind that flunks the test for American success.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 7, 2022
She utilises Hassett on the right flank and something is building, but Bowen flunks an errant pass and it’s all over.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 21, 2021
As a policy argument, Friedman’s thesis flunks key empirical tests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2016
“We just saw this episode two weeks ago. Lashonda flunks home ec and gets caught lending Troy’s letter jacket to that college guy she’s been dating on the side.”
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
Masse’s professors would have flunked him if he used artificial intelligence for designs and images, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
The Iranian-born executive who moved to the U.S. at the age of 9 and flunked out of school with just a 1.9 GPA before attending community college has been through worse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
But he flunked his second effort, meaning he had to produce something special in his third run -- and he did not disappoint.
From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026
In the years following graduation, Jenner and Pratt would team up to produce “The Princes Of Malibu,” but only after Pratt, who was attending USC, almost flunked a course in business trigonometry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026
I feel like I just got back a test that I thought I had flunked, but I actually did really well.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
The freshman and sophomore years were tough, with some core courses flunking or dropping almost half the students.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Improved though we are, L.A. keeps flunking federal clean air standards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
On each corner of 23rd Avenue and Jefferson Street, including by the Ezell’s Famous Chicken, protesters carried signs reading “Shots Fired, We’re Tired,” or “report cards” grading Seattle Public Schools as flunking on safety.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
After flunking out of the University of Florida in 1966, Mr. Pride enlisted in the Army, learned Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., and was deployed to West Germany.
From New York Times ● May 12, 2023
I’m not in any danger of flunking out!—but he could feel Mom and Katherine both staring at him.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
