flickering

adjective

flick·​er·​ing ˈfli-k(ə-)riŋ 

: moving or shining irregularly or unsteadily

a flickering light

Everything was lit by dingy fluorescent bulbs, half of which were broken or flickering.

—Brian Selznick

also : uncertain and feeble

… he seems to have had only a flickering awareness of what he was doing …

—Robert Penn Warren

And some of the exclamation marks and the nostalgia for degradation revive flickering thoughts of Celine.

—Herbert Gold

The doctors said they couldn't stop the support measures needed to sustain so flickering a life without a court order.

—Arthur Allen

flickeringly adverb

a flickeringly lit room

Examples of flickering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This year, the rumors swirl, a constant, low hum: Outer Heaven and Cuatro Gato, two more flickering lights, are expected to fade. —Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025

But there’s more flickering contrast in Narayan van Maele’s lensing, which alternates dun realism with occasionally hyperreal lighting and composition, particularly when the pagan promise of fire is in the frame. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 25 Mar. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1544, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flickering

• bickering
• snickering