Flops

How to spell flops

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce flops

What does flops mean?

1. verbDrops or sits down heavily and limply, or fails completely.
2. nounFilms, products, or ventures that have failed completely.

Flops in a sentence

• verb

  After a long shift he flops onto the sofa without taking off his shoes.

• noun

  The studio released three expensive flops in a single summer.

• verb

  The dog flops in the shade whenever the afternoon heat builds.

• noun

  Investors lost money on a string of dot-com flops.

Where does flops come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is an everyday English word of imitative origin, meaning it began as a sound effect rather than a borrowing from another language. 'Flop' appeared in the 1600s as a variant of 'flap', and the change from a sharp 'a' to a duller 'o' was deliberate: the new vowel suggested a heavier, softer, less crisp movement, the noise of something landing limply. From the physical sense of dropping down clumsily, the word developed a figurative meaning in the 1800s, a complete failure, especially a play, film, or product that 'falls flat'. The form 'flops' simply adds the regular '-s' that English uses for both plural nouns and present-tense verbs. Because the spelling follows the sound so closely, 'flops' is one of the easiest words to write, with no silent letters or hidden traps.

How the word is built

• flop (imitative root: a soft heavy fall)
• -s (plural noun / third-person verb ending)