flirted; flirting; flirts
1
: to move erratically : flit
butterflies flirting among the flowers
2
a
: to behave amorously without serious intent
He flirts with every attractive woman he meets.
b
: to show superficial or casual interest or liking
flirted with the idea
3
: to come close to reaching or experiencing something
—used with with
flirting with disaster
1
: flick
They flirt water at each other's faces.
2
: to move in a jerky manner
a bird flirting its tail
Synonyms
Examples of flirt in a Sentence
Verb
They were flirting all night.
the servers at that restaurant flirt with all the customers
Noun
he's just a harmless flirt, so don't take him seriously
Recent Examples on the Web
Caralin Nunes, The Arizona Republic, 19 Apr. 2024
Recently, the couple playfully flirted in the comments of an Instagram post, with fans celebrating that the two musicians were back together.
—Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 17 Apr. 2024
Harry remembers going to lunch with his birth mother at the Socialist Bund when Max Pila, a waiter who recognized Rose from before the war, flirted with her and brought extra desserts to their table.
—Hollace Ava Weiner, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Apr. 2024
Tesla has gone through a lot in less than 21 years: It’s introduced six passenger vehicles and the Tesla Semi trucks, built several factories, flirted with bankruptcy, and battled federal regulators.
—William Gavin, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
The guy looks like movie-star material, but makes for a rather banal boyfriend, judging by the generic-looking memories sampled (flirting at a concert, splashing together at the beach).
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 16 Mar. 2024
Global oil prices are flirting with $92 a barrel amid worries about a wider war in the Middle East.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
While reminiscing on working (and flirting) with legendary songstresses who forayed into the acting world like Madonna and Whitney Houston, host Clay Cane’s recent realization that Esposito is in fact mixed-race, not Afro Latino as many seem to believe, came up.
—Rivea Ruff, Essence, 2 Apr. 2024
Clark flirted with a triple-double, adding 7 rebounds and 12 assists to her unreal 41 points, including nine 3-pointers.
—Trisha Garcia-Easto, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024
Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Dec. 2023
Getting the images with the right tone and emotion, and somehow creating this black-and-white fable that references other movies, but is a stand-alone perception of that sort of darkness that flirts between the genres of the vampire tale and the political movie.
—Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Aug. 2023
The set-up flirts with potential broader explorations of gender, identity, colonialism and more, but the series keeps its focus on Mizu’s personal journey, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
—Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023
News of its troubles adds to greater concerns over China’s property sector, which have come to the fore in recent weeks as Country Garden, the nation’s largest homebuilder last year, flirts with the possibility of default.
—Michelle Toh, CNN, 15 Sep. 2023
Albarrán does some kind of air split, dances and flirts with the crowd.
—Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 25 July 2023
The use of heavy dialect, meant to distinguish her from the others, flirts with offensiveness.
—Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 27 July 2023
There are the times when a 41-minute rainless rain delay pushes back first pitch, when one team jumps out to a 10-0 lead as its starting pitcher flirts with a perfect game, when that same team nearly blows the lead.
—Journal Sentinel, 1 July 2023
But Lincoln, Nebraska, has had more than a dozen days at 110 degrees or higher, and sometimes flirts with temperatures near 120 degrees.
—Bill Finch, al, 19 June 2023
Verb
Phoenix just experienced a cooler-than-average March, and now, not even two full weeks later, is flirting with its first 100-degree day.
—Caralin Nunes, The Arizona Republic, 19 Apr. 2024
Recently, the couple playfully flirted in the comments of an Instagram post, with fans celebrating that the two musicians were back together.
—Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 17 Apr. 2024
Harry remembers going to lunch with his birth mother at the Socialist Bund when Max Pila, a waiter who recognized Rose from before the war, flirted with her and brought extra desserts to their table.
—Hollace Ava Weiner, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Apr. 2024
Tesla has gone through a lot in less than 21 years: It’s introduced six passenger vehicles and the Tesla Semi trucks, built several factories, flirted with bankruptcy, and battled federal regulators.
—William Gavin, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
The guy looks like movie-star material, but makes for a rather banal boyfriend, judging by the generic-looking memories sampled (flirting at a concert, splashing together at the beach).
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 16 Mar. 2024
Global oil prices are flirting with $92 a barrel amid worries about a wider war in the Middle East.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
While reminiscing on working (and flirting) with legendary songstresses who forayed into the acting world like Madonna and Whitney Houston, host Clay Cane’s recent realization that Esposito is in fact mixed-race, not Afro Latino as many seem to believe, came up.
—Rivea Ruff, Essence, 2 Apr. 2024
Clark flirted with a triple-double, adding 7 rebounds and 12 assists to her unreal 41 points, including nine 3-pointers.
—Trisha Garcia-Easto, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024
Noun
Despite a fragmented narrative and a couple of interesting characters, very little in Culprits feels all that modern and nothing so much as flirts with abstraction.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Dec. 2023
Getting the images with the right tone and emotion, and somehow creating this black-and-white fable that references other movies, but is a stand-alone perception of that sort of darkness that flirts between the genres of the vampire tale and the political movie.
—Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Aug. 2023
The set-up flirts with potential broader explorations of gender, identity, colonialism and more, but the series keeps its focus on Mizu’s personal journey, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
—Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023
News of its troubles adds to greater concerns over China’s property sector, which have come to the fore in recent weeks as Country Garden, the nation’s largest homebuilder last year, flirts with the possibility of default.
—Michelle Toh, CNN, 15 Sep. 2023
Albarrán does some kind of air split, dances and flirts with the crowd.
—Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 25 July 2023
The use of heavy dialect, meant to distinguish her from the others, flirts with offensiveness.
—Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 27 July 2023
There are the times when a 41-minute rainless rain delay pushes back first pitch, when one team jumps out to a 10-0 lead as its starting pitcher flirts with a perfect game, when that same team nearly blows the lead.
—Journal Sentinel, 1 July 2023
But Lincoln, Nebraska, has had more than a dozen days at 110 degrees or higher, and sometimes flirts with temperatures near 120 degrees.
—Bill Finch, al, 19 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flirt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near flirt
Cite this Entry
“Flirt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flirt. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
flirt
1 of 2 verb1
: to show a liking for someone of the opposite sex just for fun
2
: toy entry 2
flirted with the idea
flirtatious
adjective
-shəs
flirtatiousness
noun
flirter
noun
ˈflərt-ər
flirt
2 of 2 noun1
: an act or instance of flirting
2
: a person who flirts a lot
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