flirt

play

verb \ ˈflərt \

Definition of flirt

intransitive verb

1 :to move erratically :flit

butterflies flirting among the flowers

2 a :to behave amorously without serious intent

He flirts with every attractive woman he meets.

b :to show superficial or casual interest or liking

flirted with the idea

; also :experiment

a novelist flirting with poetry

3 :to come close to reaching or experiencing something —used with with

flirting with disaster

transitive verb

1 :flick

They flirt water at each other's faces.

2 :to move in a jerky manner

a bird flirting its tail

—

flirtation

play \ˌflər-ˈtā-shən\ noun

—

flirter

noun

—

flirty

play \ˈflər-tē\ adjective

See flirt defined for English-language learners

See flirt defined for kids

Examples of flirt in a Sentence

They were flirting all night.
the servers at that restaurant flirt with all the customers

Recent Examples of flirt from the Web

Other guests included Leslie Jones—who did her usual appearance as herself to flirt with Jost—and Keenan Thompson.

— laura bradley, vanityfair.com, "Bill Hader Crashes Weekend Update as the Mooch, Steals the Show as Always," 11 Aug. 2017
That was at least a contributing factor when the Wildcats flirted with delay-of-game penalties.

— kellis robinett, kansascity, "Jesse Ertz’s shoulder? New KC radio home? Answering your K-State football questions," 11 Aug. 2017
Like so many musicals that flirt with Big Ideas (despair, freedom, suicide, deadening routine, mortality), Groundhog Day knows about itself what Phil knows about himself: the depths of shallowness.

— toby zinman, Philly.com, "'Groundhog Day': Frisky, fresh, frisky, fresh, frisky, fresh ...," 10 Aug. 2017
When Moore went down, the Cowboys flirted with the idea of bringing in several veteran quarterbacks to backup Tony Romo.

— drew davison, star-telegram, "A year ago, Kellen Moore broke his ankle and the Cowboys found Prescott," 1 Aug. 2017
The national identity pushed for by Trump and his supporters flirts with nativism and protectionism in its most palatable form and shades into morally outrageous ethno-nationalism on the alt-right fringe.

— max bloom, National Review, "Dunkirk and Our Crisis of National Identity," 1 Aug. 2017
Gandhi, who also flirted with anti-Semitism, didn’t actually get Ford’s letter until December 8, 1941, writes History.com– the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, throwing the United States into war.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "The Unlikely Bromance Between Henry Ford and Mohandas Gandhi," 26 July 2017
Close enough to watch a steady stream of men attempt to flirt with Camila Mendes.

— kendra james, Cosmopolitan, "Spying on the Riverdale Cast for a Party-Filled Weekend," 24 July 2017
Microsoft’s Surface business, which has been flirting with a billion-dollar run rate for several quarters, reported $948 million of revenue during a quarter when customers were waiting for the new Surface Pro and the Surface Laptop.

— mark hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft's Office sales soar and Windows Phone fades in cloud-happy earnings call," 20 July 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of flirt

origin unknown

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1580

See Words from the same year

flirt Synonyms

Synonyms

coquet (or coquette), dally, frivol, mess around, toy, trifle

Related Words

vamp; court, mash, woo; josh, kid, put on, razz, rib, tease; fool, lead on, string along; manipulate, play (with)

Near Antonyms

float, hang, hover

Synonym Discussion of flirt

trifle, toy, dally, flirt, coquet mean to deal with or act toward without serious purpose. trifle may imply playfulness, unconcern, indulgent contempt.

- to trifle with a lover's feelings

toy implies acting without full attention or serious exertion of one's powers.

- a political novice toying with great issues

dally suggests indulging in thoughts or plans merely as an amusement.

- dallying with the idea of building a boat someday

flirt implies an interest or attention that soon passes to another object.

- flirted with one fashionable ism after another

coquet implies attracting interest or admiration without serious intention.

- companies that coquet with environmentalism solely for public relations

flirt

noun

Definition of flirt

1 :an act or instance of flirting

2 :a person who flirts

See flirt defined for English-language learners

Examples of flirt in a Sentence

he's just a harmless flirt, so don't take him seriously

Recent Examples of flirt from the Web

Vera has a flirt-buddy in Lombard (Matt Schwader), a former military officer who specializes in good-natured seduction and making nihilistic jokes at precisely the wrong time.

— robert w. butler, kansascity, "Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ hits the Union Station City Stage," 13 Aug. 2017
Captain Wentworth, just returned from glorious exploits in the Navy, plays the gallant flirt to everyone but Anne, who broke his heart years before and has regretted it ever since.

— rosa inocencio smith, The Atlantic, "Jane Austen and the Redemption of Gawkiness," 19 July 2017
As Musetta, Mitchell inhabited the role of opportunistic flirt with conviction and a notable flair for acting.

— special to the plain dealer, cleveland.com, "The Cleveland Opera mounts felicitous, understated 'La Boheme' (review)," 13 June 2017
A good politician is a natural flirt who knows that sports loyalties are a shortcut to a fan’s heart.

— michael powell, New York Times, "Strange Scene Behind Curtain at Ceremony for Dwight Gooden," 29 May 2017
Why had this man suddenly morphed from a cute flirt into a cunning manipulator?

— misha valencia, Marie Claire, "How I Escaped My Kidnapper," 10 Apr. 2017
Gosling flirts and smirks while Fassbender festers with menace.

— lindsey bahr, Orange County Register, "Malick gets some life back in ‘Song to Song’," 24 Mar. 2017
Gosling flirts and smirks, while Fassbender festers with menace.

— lindsey bahr, The Mercury News, "Terrence Malick imbues ‘Song to Song’ with some life," 23 Mar. 2017
Herb is a boisterous fellow who loves nothing more than a good flirt or a good prank.

— jamie schler, Good Housekeeping, "My Mother Found Love at 89 — But It Took Time for Me to Accept Her Relationship," 20 Mar. 2017

Origin and Etymology of flirt

see ¹flirt

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1590

See Words from the same year

flirt Synonyms

Synonyms

flirter, wanton

Related Words

coquet; coquette, jade, soubrette; vamp

FLIRT Defined for English Language Learners

flirt

play

verb

Definition of flirt for English Language Learners

: to behave in a way that shows a sexual attraction for someone but is not meant to be taken seriously
: to think about something or become involved in something in a way that is usually not very serious
: to come close to reaching or experiencing something