Meaning
To receive heavy criticism, hostility or opposition, especially from the public, the press or one's peers. The metaphor treats criticism as anti-aircraft fire bursting around a bomber crew: the person targeted is under fire but flying on. Usually paired with catch, take or get, as in he caught a lot of flak over the decision. Informal to neutral register; nearly always built on light verbs - catch, take, get - rather than used as a bare noun phrase. Prefer flak for the criticism sense; flack is standard only for the PR-agent word. Intensity is scaleable: some flak, heavy flak, a lot of flak. Regional use: American English origin; now general English.
Origin
Flak is a Second World War borrowing from German Flak, a shortening of Fliegerabwehrkanone, flyer-defence cannon, the name of the anti-aircraft guns and their bursting shells fired at Allied bombers. The OED's earliest evidence for English flak is 1938, in Jane's Fighting Ships - verified directly - and Merriam-Webster also dates first known use to 1938; Etymonline dates the anti-aircraft-fire sense to 1940 and the figurative criticism sense to about 1963 in American English, verified on its archived entry. Wiktionary likewise dates its adverse-criticism sense to 1963, and the OED separately records flak-catcher from 1970. Spelling note: dictionaries list flack as a less common variant of the noun, but flack is also a separate, older word for a publicity agent, which keeps the two spellings persistently confused.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- come in for flak
- get flak
- take flak
Usage Examples
- The principal caught a lot of flak from parents after cutting the music program.
- You will take flak from the board if you miss another deadline.
- He came in for heavy flak over his remarks, but he refused to back down.