Did you know?
Like flip and flick, fillip is considered a phonetic imitation of the sharp release of a curled-up finger aimed to strike something. Language history suggests that people were filliping in the 15th-century, well before they were flipping and flicking. Specifically, fillip describes a strike or gesture made by the sudden straightening of a finger curled up against the thumb—a motion commonly referred to as a flick. It didn't take long before the sensational stinging smartness of filliping was extended to figurative use. "I mark this in our old Mogul's wine; it's quite as deadening to some as filliping to others," observes Herman Melville's Dutch sailor of wine's "stimulating" effect in Moby Dick.
Examples of fillip in a Sentence
Frances Wilson
september 23, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2025
China’s foreign minister was due to arrive in New Delhi for talks aimed at rebuilding relations five years after fierce border clashes — efforts which have also been given a fillip by trade pressure from Washington.
—Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 18 Aug. 2025
The movie’s success is a fillip for the German business and other writers and directors.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 28 June 2025
Silent Retreat is a bodice ripper with a fillip of Roman Catholic ritual: a novice ripper.
—Air Mail, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for fillip
Cite this Entry
“Fillip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fillip. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share