flak

noun

ˈflak 

variants or less commonly flack

plural flak also flack

1

: antiaircraft guns

2

: the bursting shells fired from flak

3

: criticism, opposition

She has taken a good deal of flak for espousing that view.

—E. J. Kahn, Jr.

When I was a restaurant bar manager I sometimes found myself taking flak from my customers for our high prices …

—Rob Hill

Examples of flak in a Sentence

He caught heavy flak for his decision to oppose the new school.

He took a lot of flak from the other kids for his unusual appearance.

Recent Examples on the Web

Disney drew flak for taking Kimmel’s show off the air last week. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2025

The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee notably also took flak over how the party navigated the international conflict once Harris ran for president, particularly when organizers wouldn’t let a Palestinian speaker address the party’s convention. —Caroline Vakil, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025

And all Monica Cannon Grant got for her mau-mauing of the flak catchers was a take-out order from Shake Shack of a triple bacon cheeseburger with bacon cheese fries and an Oreo Cookie Funnel Cake Shake. —Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 18 Sep. 2025

And then there's Lisa, who is catching flak from her peers, including the kids who vandalized her dad's car. —Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

German, from Fliegerabwehrkanonen, from Flieger flyer + Abwehr defense + Kanonen cannons

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing flak

• flak jacket

Rhymes for flak

• ack
• brack
• clack
• crack
• dak
• flack
• hack
• jack
• knack
• lac
• lack
• lak

Kids Definition

flak

noun

variants also flack

ˈflak

plural flak also flack

1

: antiaircraft guns or the bursting shells fired from them

2

: severe criticism

Etymology

derived from the German word for "antiaircraft guns," from the first letters of Flieger "flier" and Abwehr "defense" and Kanonen "cannons"