verb
Meaning 1
Of a student, to fail a class; to not pass.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, ambitransitive
Examples
- He flunked math, again.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
flunk
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/flʌŋk/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ʌŋk
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CMU ARPABET: F L AH1 NG K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
Of a teacher, to deny a student a passing grade.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, transitive
Examples
- Unsatisfied with Fred's progress, the teacher flunked him.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To fail any challenge
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, broadly
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To shirk (a task or duty).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, dated, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To back out through fear. (Commonly in the phrase 'flunk it', the 'it' referring to a specific task avoided; sometimes without specific reference, describing a person's attitude to life in general.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
failure to reach a minimum required performance
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- his failing the course led to his disqualification
- he got two flunks on his report
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: failing
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: failure
verb
Meaning 7
fail to get a passing grade
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- She studied hard but failed nevertheless
- Did I fail the test?
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fail, bomb, flush it
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Alteration of funk, or perhaps a blend of flinch + funk.
Across languages
Translations
70 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Azerbaijani: kəsilmək — to fail
- Bulgarian: пропадам (propadam) — to fail
- Chinese Mandarin: 掛科 /挂科 (guàkē) — to fail
- Czech: propadnout — to fail
- Czech: vyletět — to fail
- Czech: rupnout — to fail
- Dutch: (voor) buizen — to fail
- Dutch: zakken — to fail
- Finnish: reputtaa — to fail
- Finnish: saada reput — to fail
- Finnish: pompata — to fail
- French: louper — to fail
- German: durchfallen — to fail
- Italian: bocciare — to fail
- Italian: trombare — to fail
- Italian: farsi bocciare — to fail
- Italian: non passare — to fail
- Japanese: 失敗する (shippai surú) — to fail
- Korean: 낙제(落第)하다 (nakjehada) — to fail
- Polish: oblewać — to fail
- Polish: oblać — to fail
- Portuguese: reprovar — to fail
- Portuguese: chumbar — to fail
- Romanian: pica — to fail
- Russian: провали́ться (provalítʹsja) — to fail
- Russian: завали́ть (zavalítʹ) — to fail
- Spanish: aplazar — to fail
- Spanish: reprobar — to fail
- Spanish: suspender — to fail
- Spanish: catear — to fail
- Spanish: raspar — to fail
- Spanish: sacar nota roja — to fail
- Spanish: tronar — to fail
- Spanish: perder — to fail
- Spanish: rajar — to fail
- Spanish: jalar — to fail
- Spanish: flonquear — to fail
- Spanish: flonquiar — to fail
- Spanish: desaprobar — to fail
- Spanish: improbar — to fail
- Spanish: jalarse — to fail
- Swedish: kugga — to fail
- Swedish: köra — to fail
- Vietnamese: hỏng — to fail
- Vietnamese: thi trượt — to fail
- Bulgarian: скъсвам (skǎsvam) — to deny a passing grade
- Czech: nechat propadnout — to deny a passing grade
- German: durchfallen lassen — to deny a passing grade
- Italian: segare — to deny a passing grade
- Italian: cannare — to deny a passing grade
- Italian: bocciare — to deny a passing grade
- Polish: oblewać — to deny a passing grade
- Polish: oblać — to deny a passing grade
- Portuguese: reprovar — to deny a passing grade
- Russian: вали́ть (valítʹ) — to deny a passing grade
- Russian: провали́ть (provalítʹ) — to deny a passing grade
- Russian: завали́ть (zavalítʹ) — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: aplazar — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: reprobar — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: suspender — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: bochar — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: catear — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: raspar — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: poner nota roja — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: tronar — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: pepenar — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: jalar — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: puyar — to deny a passing grade
- Spanish: guindar — to deny a passing grade
- Vietnamese: đánh hỏng — to deny a passing grade