Flop Meaning
/flɒp/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo fall heavily due to lack of energy.
verbTo cause to drop heavily.
Sentence Examples
The party was a flop.
If you don't do anything about it, the party will be a flop.
Our marriage turned out to be a colossal flop.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new movie was a total ____; critics hated it, and nobody bought tickets.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The new movie was a total ____ at the box office, losing millions of dollars for the studio.
Word Origin & History
Recorded since 1602, probably a variant of flap with a duller, heavier sound.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There was [in the clock in Lyons Cathedral] a centre puppet of the Virgin Mary; and close to her, a small pigeon-hole, out of which another and a very ill-looking puppet made one of the most sudden plunges I ever saw accomplished: instantly flopping back again at sight of her, and banging his little door violently, after him."
— 1846, Charles Dickens, “Lyons, the Rhone, and the Goblin of Avignon”, in Pictures from Italy, London: […] Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC, page 19:
"[…] not just the old material goal of "three hots and a place to flop," […]"
— 1969, Howard E. Freeman, Norman R. Kurtz, America's Troubles: A Casebook on Social Conflict, Prentice-Hall, page 414:
"They have opened up crypts and basements as immense pads where vagrant and impoverished hippies can flop for the night."
— 1973, Alan Watts, Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown: A Mountain Journal, Pantheon Books, page 135:
"The possibilities of this type of shot are almost limitless. By quartering the screen and duplicating and flopping the picture, a kaleidoscopic effect is achieved."
— 1968, Advertising Techniques, volumes 4-5, page 28:
"[…] in order to flop the image left-to-right, or all printing will appear reversed."
— 1986, Functional Photography, volumes 21-23, page 58:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new movie was a total ____; critics hated it, and nobody bought tickets.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The new movie was a total ____ at the box office, losing millions of dollars for the studio.