flip phone

noun

plural flip phones
: a cell phone with a hinged body that opens and closes
Smith, who was still using a flip phone, was suspicious of his girlfriend's preoccupation with social media, worrying that it would detract from the experience.Rachel Monroe

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Perhaps Aziz texted it out to the world using his beloved flip phone, but the old technology failed and the message didn’t go through. Vulture, 18 Apr. 2023 He was allowed a kid's smartwatch and then he was allowed a flip phone. Staff Author, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2023 Some Gen Zers are encouraging their peers to unplug from TikTok, influencers, and the like by bringing back the flip phone. Sara Lang, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 Apr. 2023 People didn’t even have flip phones the last time the Court took up a case like this. Sam Sanders, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2023 Although text correction existed on flip phones, the arrival of devices without a physical keyboard required a new approach. Navneet Alang, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2023 Advertisement Russians facing deployment can communicate with the Ukrainian side using the Telegram chatbot, and before leaving for the front, they’re urged to procure and hide a basic flip phone — not a smartphone — and use that to call the hotline. Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2023 Set at a different gathering or celebration each week, the show followed Los Angeles’s worst catering crew—a ragbag of struggling actors, writers, and comedians glued to their flip phones, who approach basic hospitality like an exotic custom. Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2023 Under his leadership, Propaganda was responsible for ground-breaking brand integrations that saw Keanu Reeves using a high-end Nokia flip phone in The Matrix and Tom Cruise behind the wheel of BMWs in Mission: Impossible movies. Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flip phone.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of flip phone was in 1996

Dictionary Entries Near flip phone

Cite this Entry

“Flip phone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flip%20phone. Accessed 7 Jun. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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