Fluke
noun
A surprising piece of good luck.
It was just a fluke that I happened to be there when the job vacancy was announced.
Often appears as...
- just a fluke
- pure fluke
Usage tips
Idiomatic
noun
One of the broad, flat triangular blades at the end of an arm of an anchor, or a similar device.
The anchor's flukes dug deep into the sea floor, securing the ship in place.
Often appears as...
- anchor fluke
- fluke blade
Usage tips
Technical
noun
The tail of a whale, or a similar appendage in other animals.
The whale showed its fluke before diving deep into the ocean.
Often appears as...
- whale fluke
- show fluke
noun
A kind of flat worm, a parasite in humans and animals.
The livestock were infected with liver flukes.
Often appears as...
- liver fluke
- fluke infection
Usage tips
Academic, Technical
noun
A surprising piece of good luck.
It was just a fluke that I happened to be there when the job vacancy was announced.
Often appears as...
- just a fluke
- pure fluke
Usage tips
Idiomatic
noun
One of the broad, flat triangular blades at the end of an arm of an anchor, or a similar device.
The anchor's flukes dug deep into the sea floor, securing the ship in place.
Often appears as...
- anchor fluke
- fluke blade
Usage tips
Technical
noun
The tail of a whale, or a similar appendage in other animals.
The whale showed its fluke before diving deep into the ocean.
Often appears as...
- whale fluke
- show fluke
noun
A kind of flat worm, a parasite in humans and animals.
The livestock were infected with liver flukes.
Often appears as...
- liver fluke
- fluke infection
Usage tips
Academic, Technical
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/3Unpredictable Luck
Emphasizes events or successes that happen by chance and are unexpected.
Winning the lottery is a fluke for most people.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Skill-Related
Used when success is not a result of one's abilities or efforts.
His hole-in-one was a fluke, he's usually a poor golfer.
Pro Tip 3/3Often Downplayed
Could be viewed negatively, as it can undermine someone's perceived effort or skill.
Everyone said it was a fluke when I aced the test.
Pro Tip 1/3Unpredictable Luck
Emphasizes events or successes that happen by chance and are unexpected.
Winning the lottery is a fluke for most people.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Skill-Related
Used when success is not a result of one's abilities or efforts.
His hole-in-one was a fluke, he's usually a poor golfer.
Pro Tip 3/3Often Downplayed
Could be viewed negatively, as it can undermine someone's perceived effort or skill.
Everyone said it was a fluke when I aced the test.
Pro Tip 1/3Unpredictable Luck
Emphasizes events or successes that happen by chance and are unexpected.
Winning the lottery is a fluke for most people.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Skill-Related
Used when success is not a result of one's abilities or efforts.
His hole-in-one was a fluke, he's usually a poor golfer.
Pro Tip 3/3Often Downplayed
Could be viewed negatively, as it can undermine someone's perceived effort or skill.
Everyone said it was a fluke when I aced the test.
Never forget "Fluke"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
Reel Talk Ep. 9 - Wicked...
again you're near the top of the leaderboard not necessarily at the top this week it was just a couple of years ago that you won this whole thing how important is it for you to show that wasn't a fluke yeah it definitely wasn't a fluke I mean I think I put enough fish across a dock over the years even before that to prove that I'm an adequate fisherman and I can hang with these guys
Video examples
Reel Talk Ep. 1: Opening...
that was something I just didn't have last season was that offseason like for you Tyler I mean you really a you talked about being humbled last year you came in you were so so brash after having won the year before and have it go as poorly as it did what was it a fluke you know they call me first to worst I heard everything in the book I mean I got zou
Video examples
What doctors don't know...
found evidence of precognitive powers in undergraduate students and this was published in a peer-reviewed academic journal and most of the people who read this just said okay well fair enough but I think that's a fluke that's a freak because I know that if I did a study where I found no evidence that undergraduate students had precognitive
Video examples
What doctors don't know...
a piece of research where he found evidence of precognitive powers in undergraduate students, and this was published in a peer-reviewed academic journal and most of the people who read this just said, "Okay, well, fair enough, but I think that's a fluke, that's a freak, because I know that if I did a study where I found no evidence
Video examples
Could we create dark...
this bump could have appeared by a statistical fluke. So back to the dark matter. If the LHC's proton beams have enough energy to produce it, that's probably an even rarer occurrence than the Higgs boson. So it takes quadrillions of collisions combined with theoretical models to even start to look.
Video examples
Killer whale society PIPE...
often times followed by adolescents and calves in the middle and then finally rounded out with adult males sitting at the bottom sound familiar to anyone with me now back to the hunt in addition to the whales flanking and driving others will periodically bite onto the tail flukes
Video examples
A whale saved my life PIPE...
radioed me and said there was a whale off the harbor. So I came up to the harbor and sure enough, there was a whale and he dove and when he dove, I looked at his funny tail fluke because there were 2 notches in and I thought, that's odd.
Video examples
Marla Spivak: Why bees...
Humans have been drawn to honeybees since early recorded history, mostly to harvest their honey, which is an amazing natural sweetener. I got drawn into the honeybee world completely by a fluke. I was 18 years old and bored,
Video examples
Dangerous memes PIPE Dan...
It's a parasitic brain worm that has to get into the stomach of a sheep or a cow in order to continue its life cycle. Salmon swim upstream to get to their spawning grounds, and lancet flukes commandeer a passing ant,
Video examples
Kayaking with a Sperm...
of the spent air from its lungs Wow the tail flukes are absolutely gigantic they're almost as broad across
Video examples
Reel Talk Ep. 9 - Wicked...
again you're near the top of the leaderboard not necessarily at the top this week it was just a couple of years ago that you won this whole thing how important is it for you to show that wasn't a fluke yeah it definitely wasn't a fluke I mean I think I put enough fish across a dock over the years even before that to prove that I'm an adequate fisherman and I can hang with these guys
Video examples
Reel Talk Ep. 1: Opening...
that was something I just didn't have last season was that offseason like for you Tyler I mean you really a you talked about being humbled last year you came in you were so so brash after having won the year before and have it go as poorly as it did what was it a fluke you know they call me first to worst I heard everything in the book I mean I got zou
Video examples
What doctors don't know...
found evidence of precognitive powers in undergraduate students and this was published in a peer-reviewed academic journal and most of the people who read this just said okay well fair enough but I think that's a fluke that's a freak because I know that if I did a study where I found no evidence that undergraduate students had precognitive
Video examples
What doctors don't know...
a piece of research where he found evidence of precognitive powers in undergraduate students, and this was published in a peer-reviewed academic journal and most of the people who read this just said, "Okay, well, fair enough, but I think that's a fluke, that's a freak, because I know that if I did a study where I found no evidence
Video examples
Could we create dark...
this bump could have appeared by a statistical fluke. So back to the dark matter. If the LHC's proton beams have enough energy to produce it, that's probably an even rarer occurrence than the Higgs boson. So it takes quadrillions of collisions combined with theoretical models to even start to look.
Video examples
Killer whale society PIPE...
often times followed by adolescents and calves in the middle and then finally rounded out with adult males sitting at the bottom sound familiar to anyone with me now back to the hunt in addition to the whales flanking and driving others will periodically bite onto the tail flukes
Video examples
A whale saved my life PIPE...
radioed me and said there was a whale off the harbor. So I came up to the harbor and sure enough, there was a whale and he dove and when he dove, I looked at his funny tail fluke because there were 2 notches in and I thought, that's odd.
Video examples
Marla Spivak: Why bees...
Humans have been drawn to honeybees since early recorded history, mostly to harvest their honey, which is an amazing natural sweetener. I got drawn into the honeybee world completely by a fluke. I was 18 years old and bored,
Video examples
Dangerous memes PIPE Dan...
It's a parasitic brain worm that has to get into the stomach of a sheep or a cow in order to continue its life cycle. Salmon swim upstream to get to their spawning grounds, and lancet flukes commandeer a passing ant,
Video examples
Kayaking with a Sperm...
of the spent air from its lungs Wow the tail flukes are absolutely gigantic they're almost as broad across
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Samuel Ervin Beam
American Musician
Like anyone who records music or writes a song, I thought, 'Wouldn't that be cool if someday I were able to do this for a living?' But it was such a fluke, and it really all took me by surprise and I just held on for dear life. I really wasn't prepared. I really went into it naively with no experience.
Quote examples
Greg Graffin
American Musician
There are so many ways to characterize evolutionary success. If one criterion is the number of millions of years that the species persists, we're still just infants. We're way too young of a species to tell if we were a creative fluke or if we have any staying power.
Quote examples
Martin Rees
British Scientist
We know too little about how life began on Earth to lay confident odds. It may have involved a fluke so rare that it happened only once in the entire galaxy. On the other hand, it may have been almost inevitable, given the right environment.
Quote examples
Robin Williams
American Comedian
The essential truth is that sometimes you're worried that they'll find out it's a fluke, that you don't really have it. You've lost the muse or - the worst dread - you never had it at all. I went through all that madness early on.
Quote examples
Lizzy Caplan
American Actress
In the early days, I just got lucky. I would audition for everything and just happen to land in something pretty respectable, like 'Freaks and Geeks,' my first job, which was a complete fluke.
Quote examples
Seth Shostak
American Scientist
We haven't yet found a speck of evidence for biology on another world, so we have no objective way to judge whether life is a onetime fluke or a near-inevitable phenomenon.
Quote examples
Amy Tan
American Novelist
Who knows where inspiration comes from. Perhaps it arises from desperation. Perhaps it comes from the flukes of the universe, the kindness of the muses.
Quote examples
Mirai Nagasu
American Athlete
I just want to redeem myself and show the world that... it wasn't a fluke that I won at nationals. I can compete on the international stage as well.
Quote examples
Alex Chilton
American Musician
I guess that my life has been a series of flukes in the record business. The first thing I ever did was the biggest record that I'll ever have.
Quote examples
Willard Scott
American Entertainer
Everything I've ever done in my life has been a fluke.
Quote examples
Samuel Ervin Beam
American Musician
Like anyone who records music or writes a song, I thought, 'Wouldn't that be cool if someday I were able to do this for a living?' But it was such a fluke, and it really all took me by surprise and I just held on for dear life. I really wasn't prepared. I really went into it naively with no experience.
Quote examples
Greg Graffin
American Musician
There are so many ways to characterize evolutionary success. If one criterion is the number of millions of years that the species persists, we're still just infants. We're way too young of a species to tell if we were a creative fluke or if we have any staying power.
Quote examples
Martin Rees
British Scientist
We know too little about how life began on Earth to lay confident odds. It may have involved a fluke so rare that it happened only once in the entire galaxy. On the other hand, it may have been almost inevitable, given the right environment.
Quote examples
Robin Williams
American Comedian
The essential truth is that sometimes you're worried that they'll find out it's a fluke, that you don't really have it. You've lost the muse or - the worst dread - you never had it at all. I went through all that madness early on.
Quote examples
Lizzy Caplan
American Actress
In the early days, I just got lucky. I would audition for everything and just happen to land in something pretty respectable, like 'Freaks and Geeks,' my first job, which was a complete fluke.
Quote examples
Seth Shostak
American Scientist
We haven't yet found a speck of evidence for biology on another world, so we have no objective way to judge whether life is a onetime fluke or a near-inevitable phenomenon.
Quote examples
Amy Tan
American Novelist
Who knows where inspiration comes from. Perhaps it arises from desperation. Perhaps it comes from the flukes of the universe, the kindness of the muses.
Quote examples
Mirai Nagasu
American Athlete
I just want to redeem myself and show the world that... it wasn't a fluke that I won at nationals. I can compete on the international stage as well.
Quote examples
Alex Chilton
American Musician
I guess that my life has been a series of flukes in the record business. The first thing I ever did was the biggest record that I'll ever have.
Quote examples
Willard Scott
American Entertainer
Everything I've ever done in my life has been a fluke.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension