flirt
noun/flɜːt/
/flɜːrt/
[usually singular]- a person who flirts with a lot of people
- I'm a bit of a flirt.
Word Originmid 16th cent.: apparently symbolic, the elements fl- and -irt both suggesting sudden movement; compare with flick and spurt. The original verb senses were ‘give someone a sharp blow’ and ‘sneer at’; the earliest noun senses were ‘joke, jibe’ and ‘flighty girl’ (defined by Dr Johnson as ‘a pert young hussey’), with a notion originally of cheeky behaviour, later of playfully amorous behaviour.Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
flirt