The Meaning of Fluke: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of fluke? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word fluke, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word fluke mean?

According to the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language and other sources like Collins English Dictionary, the word fluke is a noun that refers to a stroke of luck, or something that happened accidentally and was not pre-planned or arranged.

According to Definitions, the word fluke also has a couple of other potential definitions. In zoology, the word fluke refers to an American flounder of the genus Paralichthys, especially Paralicthys dentatus but also in the classes monogenea. They have external suckers and are also known as blood flukes, Fasciola hepatica or liver fluke. These can kill sheep. This fish is found in the Atlantic Ocean and in adjacent bays. It can also refer to a trematode, which is a parasitic flatworm of the trematoda class, and is related to the tapeworm. A fluke can mean one of the lobes of a whale’s or dolphin’s tail, or the tail of a similar creature, the flat triangular piece or blades at the end of the arm of an anchor which are designed to catch the ground, or generally to refer to an offshoot from a central piece. It can also mean a metal hook on the head of certain staff weapons like a bill, the barbed head of a harpoon or barb. These are made in different forms depending on function, and can be used for grappling or to penetrate armour when swung at an opponent. As a verb, the word fluke means to get a successful outcome by pure chance or to put a ball fortuitously in an unintended way.

Many different languages also contain words that mean fluke. You may notice that some of these words look and sound similar to the word fluke. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases aht look, sound, and mean similar things between languages. These are often formed when two words or languages have a common ancestor or language of origin such as Latin or Greek. This list of translations for the word fluke is provided by Word Sense

  •  Portuguese: golpe de sorte‎, acaso da sorte‎ (masc.), fortuna inesperada‎ (fem.), acaso feliz‎ (masc.)
  •  Korean: 요행수‎
  •  Russian: уда́ча‎ (fem.), везе́ние‎ (neut.), [[счастливый‎, [[счастливый‎
  •  Dutch: toevalstreffer‎
  •  Catalan: xamba‎ (fem.)
  •  Spanish: chiripa‎ (fem.)
  •  Finnish: onnenpotku‎
  •  French: coup de chance‎ (masc.), coup de bol‎ (masc.)
  •  Mandarin: 僥倖‎, 侥幸‎ (jiaǒxìng), 運氣‎, 运气‎ (yùnqi)
  •  Swedish: lyckträff‎ (masc.), oförutsedd‎ tur‎
  •  Bulgarian: щастлива случайност‎
  •  German: Glücksfall‎ (masc.), glücklicher Zufall‎ (masc.)
  •  Japanese: まぐれ‎ (magure), 紛れ当たり‎ (まぐれあたり, magureatari)
  •  Italian: colpo di fortuna‎ (masc.)
  •  Polish: fuks‎ (masc.), szczęśliwy traf‎ (masc.)
  •  Czech: šťastná náhoda‎ (fem.)
  •  Hungarian: mázli‎

What is the origin of the word fluke?

According to Merriam-Webster, the word fluke has been used since the Middle English floke and fluke, from the Old English flōc. This is akin to the Old English flōh chip, Old Norse flōki flounder, Old Saxon flaka sole, Old High German flah smooth, Greek plax flat surface, and Old English flōr floor. This word has been used since c12.

What are synonyms and antonyms of fluke?

There are many different words that a person can use in place of the word fluke. These are called synonyms. Synonyms are useful to know because they can help you avoid repeating yourself as well as expand your vocabulary in an easy-to-learn way. This list of synonyms for the word fluke is provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  stroke of good luck
  •  turbot
  •  hazard
  •  providence
  •  happenchance
  •  luck
  •  blessing
  •  streak of luck
  •  stroke of luck
  •  good fortune
  •  lucky break
  •  windfall
  •  chance
  •  fortuity
  •  coincidence
  •  contingency
  •  outside chance
  •  long shot
  •  flounder
  •  poor bed
  •  no chance
  •  chance hit
  •  luckiness
  •  destiny
  •  lucky strike
  •  happenstance
  •  good luck
  •  serendipity
  •  piece of luck
  •  twist of fate
  •  lucky shot
  •  happy chance
  •  dumb luck
  •  trematode worm
  •  accident
  •  randomness
  •  hap
  •  opportunity
  •  trematode
  •  luck of the draw
  •  quirk
  •  run of luck
  •  break
  •  flue
  •  freak
  •  stroke of good fortune
  •  fortune
  •  off-chance
  •  long odds
  •  fate

There are also numerous different words that mean the opposite of the word fluke. These are called antonyms, and are another great English language tool for improving your vocabulary. This list of antonyms for the word fluke is also provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  catch-22
  •  misadventure
  •  nasty shock
  •  brown touch
  •  harm
  •  difficulty
  •  adversity
  •  contretemps
  •  nasty blow
  •  misery
  •  destitution
  •  questionability
  •  affliction
  •  dead end
  •  nasty surprise
  •  awful jolt
  •  nasty jolt
  •  unfortunate occurrence
  •  design
  •  nasty setback
  •  ill wind
  •  foreshadowing
  •  calamity
  •  plan
  •  catch-twenty-two
  •  bad trot
  •  grand opening
  •  blow
  •  tragedy
  •  hardship
  •  opportunity
  •  rub of the green
  •  ill
  •  poverty
  •  penury
  •  bad jolt
  •  awful surprise
  •  itinerary
  •  fright of one’s life
  •  bolt from the blue
  •  bad surprise
  •  catastrophe
  •  distress
  •  certainty
  •  impoverishment
  •  disaster
  •  handle
  •  impossibility
  •  bad luck
  •  mischance

How can fluke be used in a sentence?

The word fluke can be used in many ways in English to reference anything from the end of an anchor to a snooker, to the lobes of the tail of a whale or similar creature’s tail. Most often, it is used to refer to an improbable occurrence where the implication is that it happened by chance.

Overall, the word fluke means something that happens by chance. It can also refer to other things like various flatfishes, half of the triangular tail of a whale’s tail or related animal like the lobes of the tail of a cetacean, a triangular blade at the end of each arm of a part of an anchor in a various formation, a flat bladelike projection from a weapon in various forms, or a tapeworm from the single class trematoda. 

Sources:

  1. What does fluke mean? | Definitions 
  2. Definition of Fluke | Collins Dictionary 
  3. Fluke | Definition of Fluke | Merriam-Webster 
  4. Fluke synonyms – 534 Words and Phrases for Fluke | Power Thesaurus
  5. Fluke antonyms – 80 Opposites of Fluke | Power Thesaurus 
  6. fluke: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense