as in flapping
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1
as in fluttering
to move or cause to move with a striking motion
started to flail his arms wildly when he spied a bat in the house
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2
as in whipping
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
gruesome evidence that the prisoner had been flailed
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Recent Examples of flailing
José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 4 Mar. 2026
Somatic shaking involves a few minutes of fast, energetic movement like jumping, arm flailing, and foot stomping.
—Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 2 Mar. 2026
Not only are customers being driven mad by the bots getting orders completely wrong, but even some company executives are also being worn down by the flailing effort.
—Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 26 Feb. 2026
But even if part of the point is to show that healing doesn’t happen overnight, the catharsis is too vague to reward all the flailing distress.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 Feb. 2026
And so too is his slightly flailing, vaguely desperate, going-for-it run, typified by his hair falling out of place and the sense that this man is fundamentally, for all his money and celebrity, some guy trying to get from one place to another.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
Morant appears to be at odds with Memphis brass, and has already been suspended by his own flailing team once this season for appearing to question his head coach.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Nov. 2025
Cernan, the junior pilot, was outside, dangling—actually spinning, tumbling, and flailing—at the end of a long umbilical cord, completely unable to control his movements.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 11 Nov. 2025
Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon called a timeout with five seconds remaining and Jackie Young flailing — wanting to ensure that the Aces got the final shot of the game — and Hammon put the ball in her MVP’s hands.
—Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026
One executive who knows Ellison told me they were reminded of a moment from the Succession finale, when Kendall is flailing to secure his future at the helm of the family media empire.
—Reeves Wiedeman, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
Drawing on new interviews with Bowie’s collaborators and associates, as well as archival material, Larman offers a touching, detailed portrait of a gifted artist losing his bearings, flailing about, and re-inventing himself.
—George Kalogerakis, Air Mail, 28 Feb. 2026
Only Byrne’s flashes of humor and desperately flailing humanity keep her on this side of monstrous.
—Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2026
Dropping off signatures is a way to highlight a candidate's support and can weed out flailing campaigns from serious ones.
—Stacey Barchenger, AZCentral.com, 23 Feb. 2026
Once released, the robot’s shot is fate, untouched by the vigorous, broom-flailing choreography that so often determines whether a stone bites the button or drifts wide.
—IEEE Spectrum, 18 Feb. 2026
The hanging quickly devolves into an all-out bacchanal, as onlookers drink, dance and kiss in the square surrounding the flailing corpse.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026
Their premise is that international-relations scholars are flailing in part because they’re trained to think of their field, as its name implies, as affairs between and among states.
—Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
Noun
But his role was not to fix a flailing business, but, rather, to keep a roaring flame alive.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 4 Mar. 2026
Somatic shaking involves a few minutes of fast, energetic movement like jumping, arm flailing, and foot stomping.
—Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 2 Mar. 2026
Not only are customers being driven mad by the bots getting orders completely wrong, but even some company executives are also being worn down by the flailing effort.
—Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 26 Feb. 2026
But even if part of the point is to show that healing doesn’t happen overnight, the catharsis is too vague to reward all the flailing distress.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 Feb. 2026
And so too is his slightly flailing, vaguely desperate, going-for-it run, typified by his hair falling out of place and the sense that this man is fundamentally, for all his money and celebrity, some guy trying to get from one place to another.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
Morant appears to be at odds with Memphis brass, and has already been suspended by his own flailing team once this season for appearing to question his head coach.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Nov. 2025
Cernan, the junior pilot, was outside, dangling—actually spinning, tumbling, and flailing—at the end of a long umbilical cord, completely unable to control his movements.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 11 Nov. 2025
Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon called a timeout with five seconds remaining and Jackie Young flailing — wanting to ensure that the Aces got the final shot of the game — and Hammon put the ball in her MVP’s hands.
—Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
Verb
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s reimagining of the Bride of Frankenstein story is flailing.
—ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026
One executive who knows Ellison told me they were reminded of a moment from the Succession finale, when Kendall is flailing to secure his future at the helm of the family media empire.
—Reeves Wiedeman, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
Drawing on new interviews with Bowie’s collaborators and associates, as well as archival material, Larman offers a touching, detailed portrait of a gifted artist losing his bearings, flailing about, and re-inventing himself.
—George Kalogerakis, Air Mail, 28 Feb. 2026
Only Byrne’s flashes of humor and desperately flailing humanity keep her on this side of monstrous.
—Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2026
Dropping off signatures is a way to highlight a candidate's support and can weed out flailing campaigns from serious ones.
—Stacey Barchenger, AZCentral.com, 23 Feb. 2026
Once released, the robot’s shot is fate, untouched by the vigorous, broom-flailing choreography that so often determines whether a stone bites the button or drifts wide.
—IEEE Spectrum, 18 Feb. 2026
The hanging quickly devolves into an all-out bacchanal, as onlookers drink, dance and kiss in the square surrounding the flailing corpse.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026
Their premise is that international-relations scholars are flailing in part because they’re trained to think of their field, as its name implies, as affairs between and among states.
—Andreas Kluth, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flailing
Noun
-
Somatic shaking can look a little different from one person to the next, but usually involves a few minutes of wildly uncoordinated jumping, arm flapping, and foot stomping.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
2 Mar. 2026
-
The doll also was given articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some autistic people use to process sensory information or to express excitement, according to Mattel.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
October marks the start of butterfly season, with vibrant swarms fluttering well into the green season.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
9 Mar. 2026
-
The sudden movement sends the birds fluttering away from you, to watch and wait.—
Addie Citchens,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Taylor also weighed in on keeping her cool on stage when things go wrong, such as embracing her wig flying off and whipping it around her head, the proper form for double-dutching and having patience in Hollywood.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Though both storms are similar — with a major storm system lingering over the region for over a day and whipping the region with merciless hurricane-level winds, driving inch after inch of wet snow — what made the 1978 storm so devastating was the apparent suddenness of its arrival.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The flag-waving, the face paint, the pugnacious songs, the banners, the bellicose taunts at the opponents, the arms flung out in unison foster a collective spirit that can turn violent at times.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Flag waving, immigration restriction, and culture-war rallying cries can shore up the MAGA-tech coalition, but more will be needed to achieve lasting success.—
Walter Russell Mead,
The Atlantic,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Laken Snelling, 21, who was a member of the university's stunt team, is accused of hiding the birth and putting the baby’s body in a closet.—
Michael Dorgan , Adam Sabes,
FOXNews.com,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Then West rolls over, bringing his arms into his chest and hiding his face in the nook between Ben’s shapely arm and the sun lounger.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Throughout the writhing and the screaming, Julia’s fortitude wears down a defiant Davina, whose history with Lovat feeds the moment.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Crosby is out a minimum of four weeks because of a lower-body injury and Malkin served the second of a five-game suspension for slashing Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin in the head.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
9 Mar. 2026
-
That $67 ticket informed me that the airline was selling seats to fill planes and slashing staff and services to dangerous levels.—
Christopher Elliott,
USA Today,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The disease, which gets worse over time, starts with muscle twitching, slurred speech, or weakness in an arm or leg.—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
20 Feb. 2026
-
After 10 weeks without food, Muraisi is experiencing involuntary muscular twitching and severe chest pains, according to Prisoners for Palestine, with her doctors warning of possible cardiovascular collapse.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flailing. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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