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# flaky

«flaky» in Mova's school dictionary: **breaking off easily into thin, flat pieces called flakes** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (flaky, flakier, flakiest — also spelled flakey)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Flaky means breaking off easily into thin, flat pieces called flakes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#m1)

2) Flaky skin is dry and comes off in small bits. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#m2)

3) (informal) A flaky person is unreliable: they forget things or cancel plans. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#m3)

4) (informal) Something flaky, like a wifi connection or a computer program, works only some of the time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In cooking, flaky pastry is light with many thin layers, like in a sausage roll or croissant. In health, dry or flaky skin may need cream. In everyday talk and stories, a flaky friend is one you cannot count on. Common phrases: «flaky pastry», «flaky skin», «flaky paint», «a bit flaky», «flaky internet».

### examples

- The sausage rolls were made with flaky pastry. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#x1)
- The old paint on the gate was flaky. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#x2)
- My lips get flaky in winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#x3)
- Don't rely on Jake — he's a bit flaky and always cancels. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#x4)
- The wifi is flaky in the garden. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#x5)
- Fish is cooked when it is white and flaky. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#x6)
- A Flake is a crumbly chocolate bar that goes in ice cream in the UK. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/#x7)

### note

Comparative: flakier, flakiest. Built from «flake» + «-y». The «unreliable» meaning is informal; it is a mild criticism, not a rude word.

### In the corpora

- [Leave a bike out in the rain all winter and its chain and bolts turn orange-brown and flaky.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/13-rust-irons-slow-fire/0/)
- [Rust is flaky and falls away, so fresh iron underneath is uncovered and rusts next.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/13-rust-irons-slow-fire/6/)
- [Rust is flaky and falls off, so it does not protect the iron underneath and rusting can go right through.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/13-rust-irons-slow-fire/13/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «flaky» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flaky/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.