flunk
Americanverb (used without object)
-
flunks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flunked,
past participle, past
-
flunking
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
flunks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flunked,
past participle, past
-
flunking
present participle
-
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
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have flunkedperfect
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has flunkedperfect
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am flunkingprogressive
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are flunkingprogressive
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is flunkingprogressive
-
have been flunkingperfect progressive
-
has been flunkingperfect progressive
Past
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flunkedsimple
-
had flunkedperfect
-
was flunkingprogressive
-
were flunkingprogressive
-
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
“I would rather flunk a writing test than expose the pathetic secrets of my heart,” Malcolm writes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2023
This other teacher is going to flunk me.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 13, 2022
“He will flunk if he continues this pattern.”
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
She hands María a notebook, which the girl spends so much time writing in that she flunks second grade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2021
Jack plays her love interest, beating Rock Hudson, who flunks his screen test by mixing up his lines.
From The Guardian ● May 21, 2020
Gundy claimed that SORNA’s retroactivity provision flunks that test.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2019
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
Turns out I hadn’t flunked technology after all.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
Masse’s professors would have flunked him if he used artificial intelligence for designs and images, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
They faced a test and they flunked it.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
The defending champion flunked her first run, scoring just 30.00, as world champion Atkin set the pace with 90.50.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
So then Bertha told us a story about her friend Denise who flunked out of beauty school.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
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
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
By any measure of Saturday’s debacle, he is flunking that test.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2023
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
Will Bates was Gary Edwards’s teacher in algebra II, which seemed amazing given the fact that Edwards was a Carter Cowboy and Bates was a hard-nosed grader who made no bones about flunking kids.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
