Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

flam

/flæm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.34 in modern English

Syllables: flam
IPA: /flæm/

9

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A freak or whim; an idle fancy.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A falsehood; a lie; an illusory pretext

Archaic; Countable; Uncountable

verb

To deceive with a falsehood.

Obsolete

noun

Two taps (a grace note followed by a full-volume tap) played very close together in order to sound like one slightly longer note.

verb

To play (notes as) a flam.

Example Sentences

"all Pretences, or Pleas of Conscience, to the contrary, are nothing but Cant and Cheat, Flam and Delusion."
"a perpetual abuse and flam upon posterity"
"God is not to be flammed off with Lyes."
"We will commence to flam the notes now, as most of them are flammed when you play a March."
"Drums ruffled and flammed."

Etymology

17th century; from flim-flam, itself perhaps from a dialectal word or Scandinavian; compare Old Norse flim (“lampoon, mockery”).

Usage

Inflected Forms

flams (plural) flams (present, singular) flamming (participle, present) flammed (participle, past) flammed (past)

Derived Forms

flamadiddle

Phrases

flam paradiddle flam-new

Frequently Paired Words

flam-new

Synonyms

deception delusion

Rhymes With

am damn sam ma'am exam ram dam jam ham cam spam lamb

Questions

How do you pronounce flam?: The recorded pronunciation is /flæm/.
What does flam mean?: A freak or whim; an idle fancy.
Where does flam come from?: 17th century; from flim-flam, itself perhaps from a dialectal word or Scandinavian; compare Old Norse flim (“lampoon, mockery”).

How to pronounce flam

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “flam”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/flæm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “flam”.
Repeat and practice — Say “flam” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.