flak
Americannoun
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antiaircraft fire, especially as experienced by the crews of combat airplanes at which the fire is directed.
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criticism; hostile reaction; abuse.
Such an unpopular decision is bound to draw a lot of flak from the press.
noun
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anti-aircraft fire or artillery
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informal a great deal of adverse criticism
Etymology
Origin of flak
1935–40; < German Fl ( ieger ) a ( bwehr ) k ( anone ) antiaircraft gun, equivalent to Flieger aircraft (literally, flyer) + Abwehr defense + Kanone gun, cannon
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Treasuries have taken a lot of flak from Wall Street in recent years, because they stopped behaving like a safe haven.
From Barron's
Treasuries have taken a lot of flak from Wall Street in recent years, because they stopped behaving like a safe haven.
From Barron's
His comments about the New York Fed researchers needing to be “disciplined,” meanwhile, drew flak from respected economists including Claudia Sahm.
From MarketWatch
She has donned flak jackets on ICE raids, posed toting a large gun and recorded messages urging immigrants to self-deport.
McCullum is desperate for success at the T20 World Cup in India, where England face the West Indies in Mumbai on Wednesday, after facing flak for the torrid 4-1 thumping in the Ashes.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
