flips (out)

verb

present tense third-person singular of flip (out), slang
1
as in loses it
to yield to mental or emotional stress a movie about a submarine captain who flips out when there's an emergency, leaving the crew to deal with it on their own

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in has a fit
to become very angry when my wife saw that I had broken her great-grandmother's vase, she absolutely flipped out

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flips (out)
  1. melts down
  2. snarls
  3. cracks
  4. snaps
  5. breaks down
  6. angers
  7. chokes
  8. blows up
Verb
  • Parents won't spend the day pushing strollers across sprawling pathways trying to cover ground before someone melts down.
    — Jacqueline Dole, Southern Living, 30 June 2026
  • The wedding — and especially Cassie and Nate’s dance, as Cassie melts down on the day she’s spent her life dreaming of, having learned about the deep financial hole Nate is in — must have felt especially layered.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 10 June 2026
Definition of melts down
Verb
  • Day to day, as the city grows, there’s also the question of traffic, which snarls the city as public transit initiatives have repeatedly struggled.
    — Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 21 July 2026
  • Security snarls The TSA PreCheck line at terminal B in LaGuardia Airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, on March 27, 2026.
    — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 28 Mar. 2026
Definition of snarls
Verb
  • Anyone who cracks your unlock code can get into nearly every app, from banking to social media and even your email—the keys to the kingdom.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Pre-fall closes the chapter on summer but cracks one open to fall.
    — Andrea Zendejas, Vogue, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of cracks
Verb
  • The actor shared a series of stills from his time on Heroes alongside the late Panettiere, and a few behind-the-scenes snaps.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Johnson started out Monday’s practice by taking the second-team snaps, but Demercado was in that position for the individual period.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of snaps
Verb
  • Information gets lost, communication breaks down, and customers feel the disconnect at every step.
    — Dustin Lemick, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The index also breaks down where each of the four sectors is seeing the strongest demand.
    — Diana Olick, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of breaks down
Verb
  • The receptionist angers Kripke and Bert so much that they are picked up by the police — along with Stuart, who had also been arrested.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 31 July 2026
  • According to the myth, Agamemnon angers the goddess Artemis by killing one of her sacred deer.
    — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 20 July 2026
Definition of angers
Verb
  • One boy loops his arm around the student’s neck and chokes him.
    — Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 24 July 2026
  • Remove chokes from artichokes and steam in small amount of water for 15 minutes, adding water to pan as needed.
    — Philip Potempa, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026
Definition of chokes
Verb
  • The person who blows up at a subordinate under stress has usually been subtly condescending in one-on-ones for months.
    — Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Frequent zoom-ins shown on screens showed sweat dripping down his face, and his hair resembled something similar to a mad scientist after an experiment blows up in their face.
    — Joseph Hernandez August 13, Kansas City Star, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of blows up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

flips
flips (out)
flirt
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Flips (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flips%20%28out%29. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tilde

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All