flak

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flak

/flæk/

Sounds like flack · Rhymes with -æk

Where it comes from

Borrowed from German FlaK, short for Fliegerabwehrkanone (“anti airplane cannon”).

noun flaks · flack

countable, uncountable Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells. Another peculiar modern development is that of […] military abbreviations in army orders such as Flak ('Fliegerabwehrkanone' or 'archie')[.]
Similar: ack-ack, AAA, triple-A
countable, uncountable Anti-aircraft shell fire. At 1057 we were just over the islands and at 1100 the tail gunner reported flak at six o'clock, below.
Similar: ack-ack
countable, figuratively, informal, uncountable Adverse criticism. give someone flak
countable, informal, uncountable A public-relations spokesperson. 2006, Edward Herman, Noam Chomsky, A Propaganda Model, in 2006 [2001], Meenakshi Gigi Durham, Douglas Kellner (editors), Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, revised edition, page 277, AIM head, Reed Irvine's diatribes are frequently published, and right-wing network flaks who regularly assail the

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: ack-ack, antiaircraft, pom-pom, fire, blast, flak catcher, attack, ack-ack gun, antiaircraft fire, antiaircraft gun, artillery, ballistic, bulletproof, bullet-proof, protective, criticism

Translations

Every language

noun ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells

Español	fuego antiaéreo
中文	高射炮 gāoshèpào
Português	bateria antiaérea
Français	lutte anti-aérienne, DCA, défense anti-aérienne
Deutsch	Fliegerabwehrkanone, Flugabwehrkanone
Русский	зени́тное ору́дие zenítnoje orúdije, зени́тка zenítka

noun anti-aircraft shell fire

Español	fuego antiaéreo

noun adverse criticism

Español	criticismo adverso
Português	crítica
Italiano	criticismo avverso, critica avversa
Русский	перекрёстный ого́нь perekrjóstnyj ogónʹ, разно́с raznós, взбу́чка vzbúčka, втык vtyk, вы́волочка vývoločka

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MLA

"flak." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/flak. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

flak. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/flak

Chicago

"flak." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/flak.

BibTeX

@misc{flak_2026,
  title = {flak},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/flak},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}