flaky

UK/ˈfleɪki/US/ˈfleɪki/

adjectiveB2+2 meanings Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #8,771 of 15,258neutral

Flaky means breaking into thin light layers. Flaky pastry, flaky skin, a flaky crust.

In pastry it is the aim and it comes from cold fat left in pieces, which turns to steam and pushes the layers apart. Of skin it is a symptom. Of a person, flaky means unreliable and prone to cancelling, which is American in origin and now general. Note flake, and that the word is Norse.

Definitions of flaky

1adjectiveflakyBreaking into thin light layers.B2+
“The croissants were warm and flaky, and crumbs went everywhere.”
- Said"That pastry's perfectly flaky; there are layers all the way through."
- WrittenThe cod was flaky and white, and it fell to pieces at the touch of a fork.
- UsedKeep the butter cold for flaky pastry; warm fat blends in and kills the layers.
- ContrastFlaky, not crumbly. Crumbly breaks into small dry crumbs; flaky comes apart in thin, light sheets. crumbly →
- Not thisChewy crust is the opposite of flaky. Flaky separates; chewy stretches.
- SimplyThe fish is flaky. It falls into small thin parts.
Patternflaky pastry / fish / skin · light and flaky · flake
2adjectiveunreliableUnreliable and prone to cancelling.C1
“Don't count on Tom; he's so flaky that he cancels half his plans.”

flaky is a quality of layering.

Remember it

FLAKy → it breaks into FLAKEs

It is flake + y: the pastry breaks into thin light flakes that fall like snow on your plate.

hooks ontoflake

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*pleh₂- — flat, broad, plain
Proto-Germanic
*flaką — something flat
Old Norse
flak — loose or torn piece
Old English
flacca
Middle English
flake — a flake of snow
English
flake
English, today
flaky

From flake + -y. flake comes from Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English flacca and/or Old Norse flak (“loose or torn piece”) (compare Old Norse flakna (“to flake or chip”)), from Proto-Germanic flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”). Cognate with Norwegian flak (“slice, sliver”) literally “piece torn off”, Swedish flak (“a thin slice”), Danish flage (“flake”), German Flocke (“flake”), Dutch vlak (“smooth surface, plain”) and vlok (“flake”), as well as with Latin plaga (“flat surface, district, region”) and Welsh llech (“slate, tablet”). a doublet of plage.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Definitions of flaky

1adjectiveflakyBreaking into thin light layers.B2+

“The croissants were warm and flaky, and crumbs went everywhere.”

Said"That pastry's perfectly flaky; there are layers all the way through."
WrittenThe cod was flaky and white, and it fell to pieces at the touch of a fork.
UsedKeep the butter cold for flaky pastry; warm fat blends in and kills the layers.
ContrastFlaky, not crumbly. Crumbly breaks into small dry crumbs; flaky comes apart in thin, light sheets. crumbly →
Not thisChewy crust is the opposite of flaky. Flaky separates; chewy stretches.
SimplyThe fish is flaky. It falls into small thin parts.

Patternflaky pastry / fish / skin · light and flaky · flake

2adjectiveunreliableUnreliable and prone to cancelling.C1

“Don't count on Tom; he's so flaky that he cancels half his plans.”

flaky is a quality of layering.