Flipped

How to spell flipped

7 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce flipped

What does flipped mean?

1. verbTurned something over quickly, or tossed or switched it from one position to another.
2. adjectiveTurned over, reversed, or arranged the other way around.

Flipped in a sentence

• verb

  She flipped the pancake neatly in the pan.

• adjective

  The photo looked odd because the image was flipped left to right.

• verb

  He flipped a coin to decide who would drive.

• adjective

  In a flipped classroom, students study the material at home before the lesson.

Where does flipped come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past tense of the verb 'flip', which first appears in English in the late 1500s and is generally regarded as imitative in origin, echoing the short, sharp sound of a quick snapping or tossing movement. It is most likely a contracted form of 'fillip', meaning a smart little flick made by releasing a finger held under the thumb, and the two words shared meanings for some time. From the basic idea of a brisk flick, the sense broadened to cover turning something over quickly, tossing a coin, or switching a state from one side to another. The spelling 'flipped' follows the regular English rule that a short stressed vowel before a single final consonant doubles that consonant before -ed, so 'flip' becomes 'flipped' rather than 'fliped'. That doubling rule is the main thing to remember, since the single 'p' looks tempting but is wrong.

How the word is built

• flip (to toss or turn over)
• -ped (doubled consonant
• past-tense suffix -ed)