flirt

English · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Português · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

flirt^¹

/flɜːt/ UK
/flɚt/ US
/flɪɾt/ Scotland
/fløːt/ New Zealand, Wales
/fleːt/
[fleːθ̠]
/flɛːt/

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)t

Where it comes from

1553, from the merger of Early Modern English flirt (“to flick”), flurt (“to mock, jibe, scorn”), and flirt, flurt (“a giddy girl”). Of obscure origin and relation. Apparently related to similar words in Germanic, all of apparently onomatopoeic origin, compare Low German flirt (“a flick of the fingers, a light blow”), Low German flirtje (“a giddy girl”), Low German flirtje (“a flirt”), German Flittchen (“a flirt; tart; hussy”), Norwegian flira (“to giggle, titter”). Compare also Early Modern English jillflirt, gillian flirt, and flirt-gill (“a flirt”), and Scots flird (“a trifling", also, "to jibe, jeer at, talk idly, flirt, flaunt”), which is perhaps from Middle English flerd (“mockery, fraud, deception”), from Old English fleard (“nonsense, vanity, folly, deception”); potentially related to Icelandic flærð (“trickiness, deceit”), Swedish flärd (“vanity, frivolity, flamboyance”), Dutch flard (“tatter, shred”). See flird.

noun flirts

A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion several little flirts and vibrations
Someone who flirts a lot or enjoys flirting; a flirtatious person. 'Oooh, don't.' Lilly staggered behind the counter. 'Hangover from hell. We had a good time, I think. He's such a flirt though. He really fancied Midnight. Was sooo gutted that she was actually a straight man. Think it almost turned him celibate.'
An act of flirting.
A tentative or brief, passing engagement with something. However, after a brief flirt with socialist realism , this method was abandoned and strict controls were removed after 1948. By the early 1950s, writers had earned the right to use any method and to experiment.
dialectal A brief shower (of rain or snow). In the course of the month, there were three flirts of snow, […]
with definite article Russula vesca, an edible woodland mushroom.

verb flirts · flirting · flirted

transitive To throw (something) with a jerk or sudden movement; to fling. They flirt water in each other's faces.
archaic, intransitive To jeer at; to mock. I am ashamed; I am scorned; I am flirted.
intransitive To dart about; to move with quick, jerky motions. Her skirt flirted around her knees like a flower petal.
transitive To blurt out. Chatterer flirted his tale in the saucy way he has, and his eyes twinkled.
intransitive To play at courtship; to talk with light affection, to imply sexual attraction in a playful (especially conversational) way. Of course, the young people flirted, for that diversion is apparently irradicable even in the "best society".
intransitive To experiment, or tentatively engage, with; to become involved in passing with. I've thrown away my reputation, self-respect, money, health and happiness through the use of drugs and alcohol; I can teach her how fragile a reputation is, how a fool and their money are soon parted, and how dangerous it is to flirt with drugs.

adjective

not comparable Flirtatious. He had “large dark blue eyes, wide open, very coquet, very flirt in the way he looked at you.”

FLiRT^²

proper noun

A subvariant of the Omicron variant, scientifically known as KP.2 and KP.1.1.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: tease, mash, toy, dally, play, toying, vamper, vamp, dalliance, chat up, coquetry, coquet, coquette, prickteaser, minx, philander

verb

Translations

Every language

noun sudden jerk; a quick throw

Русский	рыво́к ryvók, бросо́к brosók

noun one who flirts

Español	coqueto, coqueta, ligón, mariposón, ligona
Русский	коке́тка kokétka

noun act of flirting

Español	flirteo, coqueteo, camelo
日本語	いちゃいちゃ ichaicha
Português	flertar
Français	flirt
Deutsch	Flirt
Ελληνικά	φλερτ flert, φλερτάρισμα flertárisma
Русский	флирт flirt

verb to throw with a jerk

Ελληνικά	πετώ petó, ρίχνω ríchno

verb to jeer at

Ελληνικά	κοροϊδεύω koroïdévo

verb to toss or throw about; to move playfully to and fro

Ελληνικά	παιχνιδίζω paichnidízo, χοροπηδώ choropidó

verb to play at courtship

Español	flirtear, pinchar con alguien, coquetear, galantear, ligar, dragonear
한국어	추파(秋波)를 던지다 chupa-reul deonjida, 꼬리치다 kkorichida
日本語	戯れる tawamureru, いちゃつく ichatsuku, いちゃいちゃする ichaicha suru
中文	挑逗 tiǎodòu, 調情 /调情 tiáoqíng, 打情罵俏 /打情骂俏 dǎqíngmàqiào, 撩 liāo
Kiswahili	kijiko
Português	flertar, dar em cima de alguém
Français	draguer, flirter
Deutsch	flirten, anbaggern, anmachen, aufreißen
Italiano	pomiciare, limonare, slinguare, fare l'amore, flirtare
Ελληνικά	φλερτάρω flertáro, ερωτοτροπώ erototropó
Русский	флиртова́ть flirtovátʹ, коке́тничать kokétničatʹ, заи́грывать zaígryvatʹ
עברית	פלירטט flirtét

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{flirt_2026,
  title = {flirt},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/flirt},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}