flak

noun

\ ˈflak

How to pronounce flak (audio)

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variants: or less commonly flack

plural flak also flack

Definition of flak

1 : antiaircraft guns

2 : the bursting shells fired from flak

3 : criticism, opposition She has taken a good deal of flak for espousing that view.— E. J. Kahn, Jr. When I was a restaurant bar manager I sometimes found myself taking flak from my customers for our high prices …— Rob Hill

Examples of flak in a Sentence

He caught heavy flak for his decision to oppose the new school. He took a lot of flak from the other kids for his unusual appearance.

Recent Examples on the Web McConnell even got flak from some Kentucky Republicans in January for refusing at that point to support Trump during his second impeachment. — Morgan Watkins, The Courier-Journal, "Donald Trump bashes Mitch McConnell after the Kentuckian blamed him for Capitol riot," 16 Feb. 2021 Although there are other developers active in the county, Austin has led the pack and drawn most of the flak from opponents. — John Reinan, Star Tribune, "Cabin vs. campground battle heats up in Wisconsin lake country," 14 Feb. 2021 Biden is now taking flak from the right and even from portions of the left over the surge. — Ramesh Ponnuru Bloomberg Opinion, Star Tribune, "Biden is making the migrant border surge worse," 22 Mar. 2021 Likewise, the Grammys have taken flak for failing to adequately honor hip-hop and Black and women artists in its most prestigious categories: Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Harvey Mason Jr. has ably guided Grammy Awards and Recording Academy through controversies and pandemic," 7 Mar. 2021 Now the public broadcaster is taking flak from British Jews for coverage much closer to home. — Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, "BBC debate on whether Jews are an ethnic minority group sparks outrage," 3 Mar. 2021 Critical journalists, populist politicians, and even TV shows such as South Park regularly criticize the company, which is currently catching a huge amount of national flak for fighting a unionizing campaign in Alabama. — Nicholas Clairmont, Washington Examiner, "Artful dodger," 11 Feb. 2021 As the coronavirus crisis deepened, Lindell caught flak in August for championing the unproven treatment of oleander after investing in a company that produced a compound from it. — Steve Karnowski, ajc, "MyPillow Guy among the Trump acolytes picking up the torch," 23 Jan. 2021 As the coronavirus crisis deepened, Lindell caught flak in August for championing the unproven treatment of oleander after investing in a company that produced a compound from it. — Steve Karnowski, Star Tribune, "MyPillow Guy among the Trump acolytes picking up the torch," 23 Jan. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'flak.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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More Definitions for flak

flak

noun

English Language Learners Definition of flak

: exploding shells that are shot at enemy aircraft from guns on the ground

informal : harsh criticism

See the full definition for flak in the English Language Learners Dictionary

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