flunk

flunk — verb

1. to receive a score in a test or course that is below the minimum level needed to

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

to receive a score in a test or course that is below the minimum level needed to pass; also used when a teacher gives a student a grade so low that the student must repeat the course.

Example

Jiwoo flunked her chemistry final because she had not studied the lab procedures.

flunked + [subject] final — direct object collocation

The physics professor flunked Marco for copying answers from another student.

teacher + flunked + person — teacher-grading transitive structure

Common collocations
  • flunk a test
  • flunk an exam
  • flunk a course
  • flunk a class
  • flunk math
  • flunk chemistry
Synonyms
  • fail

    Standard, neutral term for not meeting the required standard; flunk is more informal and typical of US conversation.

  • bomb

    Stronger US slang meaning to fail very badly or embarrassingly; more dramatic than flunk.

  • wash out

    An informal phrasal verb meaning to fail and be forced to leave a programme, especially in military or academic training.

Antonyms
  • pass

    The direct opposite — to meet or exceed the minimum required standard.

Grammar Patterns

flunk + noun phrase (a test / an exam / a course)

flunk + person (teacher gives student a failing grade)

Usage Note

This word is informal and typical of spoken or casual American English. In formal writing or official transcripts, use 'fail' instead. The verb can be used transitively (flunk a test) or intransitively (flunk out of university). The teacher-grading meaning — as in 'The instructor flunked three students' — works the same way.

Common Mistakes

I flunked to pass the test.
I flunked the test.
'flunk' already communicates failure; adding 'to pass' after it is redundant and ungrammatical.
The teacher flunked me in the exam.
The teacher flunked me.
When the teacher is the subject, the object is the student, not the exam. 'In the exam' is unnecessary.
Phrasal verbs

flunk out

phrasal verb

to be forced to leave a school or college because your grades are too low to continue.

Yasmin flunked out of medical school after failing two core subjects in her first year.

If you keep skipping classes, you might flunk out before the end of the semester.

flunk — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Fail is the neutral, standard word for not meeting a required standard in a test or course. Flunk is an informal American alternative — common in conversation and casual writing but rare in official reports or transcripts. Bomb (US slang) is stronger than flunk; it suggests a complete and often embarrassing failure, as in 'I bombed the history final so badly I cannot believe it.' Not pass is a transparent phrase but sounds less natural as a main verb; it typically appears in conditional or hypothetical statements ('If you do not pass this class, you cannot graduate on time'). Choose fail for any neutral or formal context, flunk for personal, informal conversation, and bomb for dramatic emphasis about a particularly poor performance.

fail ↗flunk ↗bomb ↗not pass

Common collocations

Nouns

  • flunk a test
  • flunk an exam
  • flunk a course
  • flunk a class
  • flunk a subject

Adverbs

  • completely flunk
  • nearly flunk
  • almost flunk
  • barely flunk

Phrases

  • flunk out of school
  • flunk the year
  • flunk by one point

Prepositions

  • flunk out of (school / college)
  • flunk in (a subject)
  • flunk on (a test / an exam)

Etymology

English (American college slang)

Flunk is an American English word that first appeared in college slang around the 1820s. Its exact origin is uncertain — one theory connects it to the verb 'flinch' (to pull back from something difficult), another to 'funk' (a state of fear or panic). The word may also be related to an old English dialect verb 'flunk' meaning 'to back down or give up.' By the mid-1800s it was firmly established at US universities as the informal way to say 'fail a course.'