Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense flickers, present participle flickering, past tense, past participle flickered
1. verb
If a light or flame flickers, it shines unsteadily.
Fluorescent lights flickered, and then the room was brilliantly, blindingly bright. [VERB]
A television flickered in the corner. [VERB]
Flicker is also a noun.
Looking through the cabin window I saw the flicker of flames.
2. countable noun [usually singular]
If you experience aflickerof emotion, you feel that emotion only for a very short time, and not very strongly.
He felt a flicker of regret. [+ of]
He looked at me, a flicker of amusement in his cold eyes. [+ of]
Synonyms: trace, drop, breath, spark More Synonyms of flicker
3. verb
If an expression flickersacross your face, it appears very briefly.
[written]
A smile flickered across Vincent's grey features. [Vacross/over n]
...a shadow of disquiet flickering over his face. [Vacross/over n]
4. verb
If someone's eyes flicker towards something, they look at it quickly.
[written]
Dirk's eyes flickered towards the pistol. [VERB preposition/adverb]
His dark eyes flickered over her face. [VERB preposition/adverb]
5. verb
If something flickers, it makes very slight, quick movements.
In a moment her eyelids flickered, then opened. [VERB]
A few moments later Mrs Tenney's eyelids flickered open. [VERB adjective]
More Synonyms of flicker
flicker in British English1
(ˈflɪkə)
verb
1. (intransitive)
to shine with an unsteady or intermittent light
a candle flickers
2. (intransitive)
to move quickly to and fro; quiver, flutter, or vibrate
3. (transitive)
to cause to flicker
noun
4.
an unsteady or brief light or flame
5.
a swift quivering or fluttering movement
6.
a visual sensation, often seen in a television image, produced by periodic fluctuations in the brightness of light at a frequency below that covered by the persistence of vision
7. the flickers
Derived forms
flickery (ˈflickery)
adjective
Word origin
Old English flicorian; related to Dutch flikkeren, Old Norse flökra to flutter
flicker in British English2
(ˈflɪkə)
noun
any North American woodpecker of the genus Colaptes, esp C. auratus (yellow-shafted flicker), which has a yellow undersurface to the wings and tail
Word origin
C19: perhaps imitative of the bird's call
flicker in American English1
(ˈflɪkər)
verb intransitive
1.
to flap the wings rapidly, as in hovering; flutter
said of a bird
2.
to move with a quick, light, wavering motion
3.
to burn or shine unsteadily, as a candle in the wind
verb transitive
4.
to cause to flicker or waver
noun
5.
an act or instance of flickering
6.
a dart of flame or light, as in a flickering fire
7.
a look or feeling that comes and goes quickly
a flicker of fear crossed his face
8.
any of various visual effects, as a fluctuation in brightness on a video screen or in the clarity of the image being projected on a film screen
SIMILAR WORDS: blaze
Derived forms
flickery (ˈflickery)
adjective
Word origin
ME flikeren < OE flicorian, akin to flacor, flying, ON flǫkta, to flutter: for IE base see flaw2
flicker in American English2
(ˈflɪkər)
US
noun
any of several North American woodpeckers (genus Colaptes); esp., the yellow-shafted flicker
Word origin
echoic of its cry
Examples of 'flicker' in a sentence
flicker
Small businesses are flickering into life.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Fires blaze, candles flicker and the autumn tasting menu is delicious.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Soul music plays, candles flicker.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
At night, lanterns show you the way and the tents are lit with low, flickering candles.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
The viewer enters a mirrored cabinet, at the heart of which a chandelier hangs, its lights pulsing and flickering.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Not a flicker of emotion and the band resumed.
The Sun (2014)
The early signs were certainly promising as the game finally flickered into life.
The Sun (2012)
Take those same five deep breaths and as you do so feel your eyes ache and flicker.
Wallace, Louise M & Bundy, Christine Coping with Angina (1990)
Watching the stars through the open smoke flap while lying next to the flickering flames is wonderful.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The candles were flickering in their sockets.
Elizabeth Gaskell North and South (1855)
His belief in a higher power has nudged him from deepest darkness to flickering light.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Only once did the flame truly flicker.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Here and there a candle flickered in a glass jar amid the ruins.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But for those of us just yards away there was a faint flicker of panic behind her unruffled cool.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The aliens are invisible and can be detected only because they cause light bulbs to flicker into life as they pass by.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
You can see the body language change, see the faces flicker.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
What's the key to the intimacy and the poetry of flickering emotions in her work?
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
I caught a glimpse of her face in the flicker of the candle.
Edward Beauclerk Maurice THE LAST OF THE GENTLEMEN ADVENTURERS: Coming of Age in the Arctic (2004)
But you might feel a flicker of recognition, especially if you happen to watch a lot of movies.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
A steely glint appears in her eyes and a thin smile flickers at the corners of her mouth.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
I feel a flicker of sympathy for the friends and family members she telephones when she has just discovered a new song.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
And as we parted I saw a flicker of something in her eyes that resembled relief.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
When my mother used to sit at her dressing table, she would see out of the corner of her eye in the mirror something flicker behind her.
Aidan Hartley THE ZANZIBAR CHEST: A Memoir of Love and War (2003)
In a life where hope is measured in tiny flickers of movement, I have one other triumph.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In winter, when the sun is low in the sky, it goes down behind the turbines and causes flickering shadows coming into the room.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
These faint flickers of light from the edge of the abyss don't add up to the kind of neat and upbeat ending that Western storytelling favours.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
In other languages
flicker
British English: flicker VERB
If a light or flame flickers, it shines unsteadily.
Fluorescent lights flickered, and then the room was blindingly bright.
American English: flicker
Brazilian Portuguese: tremular
Chinese: 闪烁不定
European Spanish: parpadear
French: vaciller
German: flackern
Italian: tremolare
Japanese: ちらちらする
Korean: 깜박거리다
European Portuguese: tremular
Latin American Spanish: parpadear
Chinese translation of 'flicker'
flicker
(ˈflɪkəʳ)
vi
[light, candle]闪(閃)烁(爍) (shǎnshuò)
[smile, look]闪(閃)过(過) (shǎnguò)
n(c)
[of light, flames]闪(閃)烁(爍) (shǎnshuò)
[of pain, fear]一丝(絲) (yīsī)
[of smile]闪(閃)现(現) (shǎnxiàn)
1 (verb)
Definition
to give out an unsteady or irregular light
Firelight flickered on the faded furnishings.
Synonyms
twinkle
At night, lights twinkle in distant villages across the valleys.
flash
Lightning flashed among the distant dark clouds.
sparkle
His bright eyes sparkled.
flare
Camp fires flared like beacons in the dark.
shimmer
The lights shimmered on the water.
gutter
glimmer
The moon glimmered faintly through the mists.
2 (verb)
Definition
to move quickly to and fro
Her eyelids flickered then opened.
Synonyms
flutter
a butterfly fluttering its wings
waver
The shadows of the dancers wavered on the wall.
quiver
His bottom lip quivered and big tears rolled down his cheeks.
vibrate
Her whole body seemed to vibrate with terror.
1 (noun)
Definition
an unsteady or brief light
I saw the flicker of flames.
Synonyms
glimmer
In the east there is the faintest glimmer of light.
flash
a sudden flash of lightning
spark
Sparks flew in all directions.
flare
The flare of fires lights up the blacked-out streets.
gleam
There was a gleam of hope for a peaceful settlement.
2 (noun)
Definition
a brief or faint indication of emotion
He felt a flicker of regret.
Synonyms
trace
Wash them in cold water to remove all traces of sand.
drop
I'll have a drop of that milk.
breath
It was left to her to add a breath of common sense.
spark
Even Oliver felt a tiny spark of excitement.
atom
one carbon atom attached to four hydrogens
glimmer
vestige
She had lost every vestige of her puppy fat.
iota
Our credit standards have not changed one iota.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of atom
Definition
a very small amount
one carbon atom attached to four hydrogens
Synonyms
particle,
bit,
spot,
trace,
scrap,
molecule,
grain,
dot,
fragment,
fraction,
shred,
crumb,
mite,
jot,
speck,
morsel,
mote,
whit,
tittle,
iota,
scintilla (rare)
in the sense of breath
Definition
a suggestion or slight evidence
It was left to her to add a breath of common sense.