How to Use flat-out in a Sentence
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Egor Dëmin can flat-out shoot the rock.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026
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On the right, there has been flat-out denial.
—Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2025
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Ehlers can flat-out break games wide open with his pace and finesse.
—Harman Dayal, New York Times, 11 July 2025
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Then there’s a whole class of hacks that to me just seem, well, flat-out weird.
—Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Mar. 2025
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Kerr flat-out doesn’t want to play Kuminga.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
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Only a flat-out ban on trading can put that to rest.
—Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2025
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And some have flat-out been in our nation legally.
—Matt Alderton, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2025
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Just flat-out ceases to function.
—Rachel Raposas, People.com, 7 Aug. 2025
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Any Ohio resident knows that claim is a flat-out lie.
—Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 31 Mar. 2026
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Others flat-out say that Rocky is too old to still be nursing.
—Melissa Willets, Parents, 5 May 2025
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Britain is flat-out refusing to be drawn into the war.
—Sam McNeil, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2026
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Britain is flat-out refusing to be drawn into the war.
—John Leicester, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
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Stanton flat-out denied that a Swift song would close out the film.
—Rolling Stone, 1 June 2026
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There is more to the Ghanaian’s game than just flat-out running.
—David Ornstein, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
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Anyone who says newsboy caps are the same as flat caps is flat-out lying.
—Maverick Li, Men's Health, 14 July 2023
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Of course, Ewers wouldn’t flat-out bash the signing.
—Miami Herald, 25 June 2026
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First, the claim that Passkeys Pwned shows that passkeys can be stolen is flat-out wrong.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
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The church flat-out lied to their faithful parishioners for nearly two years.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 29 Apr. 2024
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The third is about the flat-out value proposition.
—Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 23 Jan. 2026
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Sprinting might look flat-out from the start but athletes need to build through the phases.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 28 June 2025
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That’s a 44% increase in flat-out denials statewide.
—Ascend Agency, New York Daily News, 11 May 2026
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This was a flat-out fight with officials desperate to break it up.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
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Alonso has flat-out been one of the best players in baseball this season.
—Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 July 2025
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The singer refused to flat-out say the Eagles are calling it quits.
—Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News, 11 Feb. 2026
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Some of his cooking, like the pil-pil and the fluke in olive oil, is flat-out Iberian.
—Pete Wells, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2023
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The end of this two-drinks-past-the-limit, back-and-forth game was flat-out surreal.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
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Everyone else is trudging along, if not toiling through a flat-out slump.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
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Darnold looked jumpy and just flat-out missed on several open passes downfield.
—Ted Nguyen, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
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The roller coaster before all of this makes the whole of it flat-out remarkable out of the gates.
—Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 June 2023
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This was described as a flat-out fight as Rhodes and Fatu brawled into the crowd.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
- We asked for more time but they refused us flat out.
- I told him flat out that I have no intention of marrying him.
- The car does 180 mph flat out.
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There's been flat out bad weeks, and flat out good weeks, too.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2025
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These people are flat out nuts.
—Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 4 Apr. 2026
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The rest was just flat out ridiculous.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Sep. 2025
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The Red Sox have been flat out bad.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 14 June 2026
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So how did a team that played so well at home fall flat out on the road?
—Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News, 28 Mar. 2018
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Not everyone could play flat out.
—Literary Hub, 16 Mar. 2026
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Consumer phones were never built to run flat out, around the clock, for years on end.
—New Atlas, 2 July 2026
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However, Collins knows how to flat out play.
—Kansas City Star, 19 Feb. 2026
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Murphy has long arms, is agile and is just a flat out ball player.
—Chris Kirschner, ajc, 13 Nov. 2017
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In our half-mask tests, the iPhone flat out refused to unlock for us.
—Michelle Maltais, USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2020
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Not many people have heard of Schwalbach, but this kid can flat out play.
—Chris Hays, orlandosentinel.com, 16 Oct. 2020
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That’s flat out a controllable that our team knows that keeps you from winning.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 31 Oct. 2025
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Age 45 is the age of 'perimenopause', not flat out menopause.
—Karla Adam, Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2023
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Some are just flat out funny, with nothing more on their minds than the spritz of escapism.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 June 2020
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Positions are won out there; some guys attack it and do a great job and some guys just flat out fold.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2024
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Rolen hit with consistent power and could flat out play the hot corner.
—USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2023
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Just a flat out entertaining read, and a book worth spending time with.
—John Warner, chicagotribune.com, 25 Dec. 2021
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The worst cover done by an actual artist on the soundtrack; this one flat out doesn’t work.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 6 July 2022
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Skim-ice has kept me from my beloved small lake passion and continual snow events just flat out stink.
—Jim Gronaw, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 6 Mar. 2021
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Anyone who tells you the Dolphins offense looked good today is a flat out liar.
—Miami Herald, 8 Aug. 2025
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Even with Burns, the Panthers flat out stunk as a pass-rushing defense.
—Larry Holder, The Athletic, 18 July 2024
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Stevenson has rare movement skills for a 246-pound back and can flat out make people miss.
—Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 29 Apr. 2021
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Trump is saying, flat out, that Democrats are opposed to the military.
—Chris Cillizza, CNN, 23 Mar. 2018
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Noonan looked back toward the yard, then down at the rumpled patch of grass where Judge had been flat out on his back.
—Colin Barrett, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021
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Gabriel Martinelli was lying flat out.
—Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
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Nothing in the room but a glass night lamp on a table and, set flat out under the windows like a cheap placemat, the bed.
—Gail Sheehy, Daily Intelligencer, 9 Sep. 2017
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The European bourses were flat out of the gates, but perked up throughout the morning.
—Bernhard Warner, Fortune, 17 June 2020
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flat-out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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