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flaky

 [fley-kee]   Origin

flak·y

   [fley-kee]
adjective, flak·i·er, flak·i·est.
1.
of or like flakes.
2.
lying or cleaving off in flakes or layers.
3.
Slang. eccentric; wacky; dizzy: a flaky math professor.
Also, flak·ey

Origin:
1570–80; 1965–70 for def. 3; flake1 + -y1; sense of def. 3 probably flake4 + -y1, though influenced by flake1

Related forms
flak·i·ly, adverb
flak·i·ness, noun
non·flak·i·ly, adverb
non·flak·i·ly·ness, noun
non·flak·y, adjective
EXPAND
un·flak·y, adjective
COLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Flaky is always a great word to know.
So is top gun. Does it mean:
a treacherous, greedy person
a person who is the best or one of the best in a particular field; the top-ranked person in a group
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Collins
World English Dictionary
flaky (ˈfleɪkɪ)
 
—adj , flakier, flakiest
1.  like or made of flakes
2.  tending to peel off or break easily into flakes
3.  slang (US) Also: flakey eccentric; crazy
 
'flakily
 
—adv
 
'flakiness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

flaky
1570s, from flake + -y (2). Meaning "eccentric, crazy" first recorded 1959, said to be Amer.Eng. baseball slang, but probably from earlier druggie slang flake "cocaine" (1920s). Flake "eccentric person" is a 1968 back-formation from it.
EXPAND
"The term 'flake' needs explanation. It's an insider's word, used throughout baseball, usually as an adjective; someone is considered 'flaky.' It does not mean anything so crude as 'crazy,' but it's well beyond 'screwball' and far off to the side of 'eccentric.' " ["New York Times," April 26, 1964]
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

flaky definition

[ˈfleki]
  1. mod.
    unreliable. : I'm getting so flaky. Must be old age.
  2. mod.
    habituated to the use of cocaine. (Drugs.) : He looks a little flaky. Look at his eyes and nose.
  3. mod.
    and flako. [ˈfleko]alcohol intoxicated. : Paul was flaky and couldn't drive. , Man is he flako!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

flaky definition


(Or "flakey") Subject to frequent lossage. This use is of course related to the common slang use of the word to describe a person as eccentric, crazy, or just unreliable. A system that is flaky is working, sort of - enough that you are tempted to try to use it - but fails frequently enough that the odds in favour of finishing what you start are low. Commonwealth hackish prefers dodgy.
[Jargon File]
(1996-01-05)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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