flak

noun

ˈflak 

variants or less commonly flack

plural flak also flack

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

Inflation has improved considerably since then, but the Fed still gets flak for being so wrong in 2021. —Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 31 Mar. 2025

What If…? ended up not being a terribly good series in the end and making Carter the focus attracted a lot of flak since it was supposed to be an anthology. —Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025

And then there's Lisa, who is catching flak from her peers, including the kids who vandalized her dad's car. —Randall Colburn, EW.com, 17 Mar. 2025

Former President Joe Biden’s administration was not spared from the flak, and was mocked for their celebrations over lowering prices of 10 prescription drugs. —Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 25 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

German, from Fliegerabwehrkanonen, from Flieger flyer + Abwehr defense + Kanonen cannons

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing flak

• flak jacket

Rhymes for flak

• ack
• brack
• clack
• crack
• dak
• flack
• hack
• jack
• knack
• lac
• lack
• lak

Kids Definition

flak

noun

variants also flack

ˈflak

plural flak also flack

1

: antiaircraft guns or the bursting shells fired from them

2

: severe criticism

Etymology

derived from the German word for "antiaircraft guns," from the first letters of Flieger "flier" and Abwehr "defense" and Kanonen "cannons"