flapper

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
Margaret Mitchell had been a genuine "flapper" - blackballed from the Junior League for a "daring" French apache dance she performed at an Atlanta ball.

View all »
Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A broad flexible part, such as a flipper.
  2. noun A young woman, especially one in the 1920s who showed disdain for conventional dress and behavior.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The effect was a little bit flapper, a little 1920s Wimbledon, a little 1970s Baltimore, when anyone who wore shoes other than Jacks was ridiculed for appearing in "fish heads." —  Lippman, Laura - [Tess Monaghan 01] - Baltimore Blues
  • The metal buckles had jangled and flapped, which is how the name flapper came about. —  Futures Imperfect
  • But the Charleston didn't hit till 1923, and the word flapper had been used as early as 1920. —  Futures Imperfect
  • Or the woman disguised as a flapper, who spoke all the time in a falsetto voice? —  The Guinguette By The Seine - Maigret 11 - Georges Simenon
  • It's usually best to replace the whole flapper, which is a do-it-yourself project that pays for itself in no time. —  The Dollar Stretcher Featured Content
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 99 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Sense 2, British Slang, very young female prostitute, flapper, possibly from flapper, fledgling partridge or duck (from flap) or from dialectal flap, loose or flighty girl.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/ˈflæpər/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a year.

Recently looked up

specifics · credible · penetrance · halcyon · swan

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich