flicker

/ˈflɪkə//ˈflɪkɚ/

flicker noun: an unsteady flash of light. Also the ellipsis of channel flicker.

Noun (1)

flicker (countable and uncountable, plural flickers)

An unsteady flash of light.
- the flicker of the dying candle
- the flicker of an old movie
(figuratively) A short moment.
- a flicker of emotion
- a flicker of hope

Verb

flicker (third-person singular simple present flickers, present participle flickering, simple past and past participle flickered)

(intransitive) To burn or shine unsteadily, or with a wavering light.
- The shadows flicker to and fro.1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Death of the Old Year”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
- Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and...1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
(intransitive) To keep going on and off; to appear and disappear for short moments; to flutter.
- A strong desire to smash up everything in the room kept flickering in his head.
- There I lay on one side with a thin and rotten plank between the dead man and me, dazed with the blow to my head, and breathing hard; while the glow of torches as they came down the passage reddened and flickered on the roof above.[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC
(ambitransitive) To flutter or flap.
- And flickering on her nest made short essays to sing.1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- But the child saw her; was it possible? He turned his head towards her, and flickered his baby hands, and cooed with that indescribable voice that goes to every woman's heart.1884, Margaret Oliphant, Old Lady Mary

Noun (2)

flicker (plural flickers)

(US) Any of certain small woodpeckers, especially of the genus Colaptes.

Noun (3)

flicker (plural flickers)

One who flicks.

Proper noun capitalized: Flicker

Flicker (plural Flickers)

A surname.

Also used as

flicker is also the ellipsis of channel flicker.

flicker meaning in Arabic and Persian

flicker in Arabic

an unsteady flash of light: وَمِيض wamīḍ, وَمْضَة wamḍa
a short moment: طَرْفَة ṭarfa, وَمْضَة wamḍa
to burn or shine unsteadily: رَفْرَفَ rafrafa, خفَقَ, يَخْتَلِج yaḵtalij, يَرْتَعِش yartaʕiš

flicker in Persian

to burn or shine unsteadily: سو سو زدن su-su zadan, لپیدن lepidan

Examples of flicker in a sentence

a flicker of recognition passed through my mind.
There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, / And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, / And in short, I was afraid.1915 June, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, in Prufrock and Other Observations, London: The Egoist […]...
Inside, drivers sit and chat in between shifts, the overhead fan whirring and causing the dim electric light to flicker over their faces.2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London...
He watched confusion start to flicker in her eyes , followed by a flutter of panic.2024, Carol Marinelli, Bride Under Contract, Harlequin:

All 40 example sentences with flicker

Forms of flicker

Noun
plural	flickers
Verb
third-person singular present	flickers
present participle	flickering
past participle	flickered
past	flickered
Proper noun
plural	Flickers

Plural of flicker: flickers

Origin of flicker

From Middle English flikeren (“to flutter”), from Old English flicerian, flicorian (“to flutter”), from Proto-West Germanic *flikurōn. Akin to Saterland Frisian flikkerje (“to flicker”), West Frisian flikkerje (“to flicker”), Dutch flikkeren (“to flicker, flutter”), German Low German flickern (“to light up, flash, flicker”). Compare Old English flacor (“flickering, fluttering”), German flackern (“to flicker, flutter”), Old English flēogan (“to fly”).

1808, American English, probably echoic of the bird's call, or from the white spotted plumage which appears to flicker. It is also true that the bird vigorously flicks away treebark, woodchips, and ground detritus while feeding, which may possibly explain the name.

From flick + -er.

Words formed from flicker

Phrases with flicker

Words that rhyme with flicker

15 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about flicker

What does flicker mean?: Flicker means an unsteady flash of light.
What is flicker in Arabic?: Flicker in Arabic is وَمِيض (wamīḍ), وَمْضَة (wamḍa), طَرْفَة (ṭarfa). See Flicker meaning in Arabic.
How do you use flicker in a sentence?: a flicker of recognition passed through my mind.
What part of speech is flicker?: Flicker can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce flicker?: Flicker is pronounced /ˈflɪkə/ (UK).
What is the plural of flicker?: The plural of flicker is flickers.

Words near flicker in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: flicker (page history and authors); Flicker (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-flicker.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-flicker.wav.

Cite this entry: “flicker.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/flicker. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.