flivver

noun

fliv·​ver ˈfli-vər 

: a small cheap usually old automobile

Did you know?

In 1908, Henry Ford changed the world with the Model T, the first affordable automobile. English speakers quickly coined an array of colorful terms for the Model T and the other relatively inexpensive cars that followed it. No one is sure why cheap cars came to be called "flivvers," but we do know that in the early 1900s that colorful term was also used as a slang verb meaning "to fail," as in "If this film flivvers, I'll be in trouble." In Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang, author Tom Dalzell lists "flivver" (which made its print debut in 1910, just two years after the Model T hit the streets) among a number of terms applied to "the humble Ford." Others included "bone crusher," "bouncing Betty," "Henry's go-cart," "puddle jumper," "Spirit of Detroit," and "Tin Lizzie."

Examples of flivver in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Eight thousand fans could fit in the bleachers and grandstands, with, as a novelty, room for people in 150 cars to watch the game from their flivvers. —Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2023

In the background are two flivvers, which brought them there over bouncy roads. —Frederick N. Rasmussen, baltimoresun.com, 30 Aug. 2019

Leader of the campaign is a white man, the county health officer, a former Georgia farm boy who drove a flivver through fields of mud, 36 miles a day to medical school. —Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 25 July 2017

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1910, in the meaning defined above

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

flivver

noun

fliv·​ver ˈfliv-ər 

: a small cheap old automobile