flips (out)

verb

present tense third-person singular of flip (out), slang
1
as in loses it
to yield to mental or emotional stress a movie about a submarine captain who flips out when there's an emergency, leaving the crew to deal with it on their own

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in has a fit
to become very angry when my wife saw that I had broken her great-grandmother's vase, she absolutely flipped out

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flips (out)
  1. melts down
  2. snarls
  3. cracks
  4. snaps
  5. breaks down
  6. angers
  7. chokes
  8. blows up
Verb
  • Continue reading … -- IN OTHER NEWS COURT PRESS — A'ja Wilson's mom melts down when pressed over her 'Love Beats Hate' sign in Vegas.
    — , FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Parents won't spend the day pushing strollers across sprawling pathways trying to cover ground before someone melts down.
    — Jacqueline Dole, Southern Living, 30 June 2026
Definition of melts down
Verb
  • Day to day, as the city grows, there’s also the question of traffic, which snarls the city as public transit initiatives have repeatedly struggled.
    — Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 21 July 2026
  • Security snarls The TSA PreCheck line at terminal B in LaGuardia Airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, on March 27, 2026.
    — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 28 Mar. 2026
Definition of snarls
Verb
  • And Guy Pearce cracks it as the Aussie who beat the Brits at their own game of publishing.
    — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2026
  • When Pennywise cracks a joke, the contrast of his antics with the scary stuff can be more impactful, have more personality, than just scare after scare.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of cracks
Verb
  • Cassel snaps a picture before discovering that Dunham’s beloved Tiffany bean earrings are lost.
    — Grace Byron, Vogue, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Once a band that lived on the high-tension wire of music just about to burst, Hotel Usona finds Protomartyr exploring what happens once that wire snaps.
    — David Harris, SPIN, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of snaps
Verb
  • This guide breaks down competitive races in Offices 64, 65, 87 and 131, highlighting candidate experience, priorities and Los Angeles County Bar Assn.
    — Jon Regardie, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The Guardian breaks down how people are folding screen-free time into everyday routines, from creating physical distance from their phones to setting aside longer stretches without any screens at all.
    — Ashley Lynch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of breaks down
Verb
  • Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party champion Taiwan’s separate identity from China, a position that frequently angers Beijing, which views the island as Chinese territory.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026
  • The receptionist angers Kripke and Bert so much that they are picked up by the police — along with Stuart, who had also been arrested.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 31 July 2026
Definition of angers
Verb
  • One boy loops his arm around the student’s neck and chokes him.
    — Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 24 July 2026
  • Remove chokes from artichokes and steam in small amount of water for 15 minutes, adding water to pan as needed.
    — Philip Potempa, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026
Definition of chokes
Verb
  • Trinity's safe world blows up when reports surface that something is killing both demons and Wardens.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The movie blows up, and so are do lives—in exciting, but also terrifying, ways.
    — Katie Wiseman, IndyStar, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of blows up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

flips
flips (out)
flirt
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Flips (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flips%20%28out%29. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of inscrutable

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All