Flicker Meaning
/ˈflɪkə/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn unsteady flash of light.
nounA short moment.
Sentence Examples
This fluorescent lamp is starting to flicker. We'll have to replace it.
Fires for luring fish at night flicker on the silhouette of an island.
After one last flicker, the candle went out.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old candle started to ____ in the dark, threatening to go out completely.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We saw a faint ____ of light in the distance, which we hoped was a small campfire.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English flikeren (“to flutter”), from Old English flicerian, flicorian (“to flutter”), from Proto-West Germanic *flikurōn. Akin to Saterland Frisian flikkerje (“to flicker”), West Frisian flikkerje (“to flicker”), Dutch flikkeren (“to flicker, flutter”), German Low German flickern (“to light up, flash, flicker”). Compare Old English flacor (“flickering, fluttering”), German flackern (“to flicker, flutter”), Old English flēogan (“to fly”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"The shadows flicker to and fro."
— 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Death of the Old Year”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
"Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, […]"
— 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
"There I lay on one side with a thin and rotten plank between the dead man and me, dazed with the blow to my head, and breathing hard; while the glow of torches as they came down the passage reddened and flickered on the roof above."
— [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
"The ruddy brick floor smiled up at the smoky ceiling; the oaken settles, shiny with long wear, exchanged cheerful glances with each other; plates on the dresser grinned at pots on the shelf, and the merry firelight flickered and played over everything without distinction."
— 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old candle started to ____ in the dark, threatening to go out completely.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We saw a faint ____ of light in the distance, which we hoped was a small campfire.