- This person is described as ‘flaky’. It can easily be seen how flake was reanalysed. Flake means eccentric, and as eccentric people can be unreliable, it was extended to mean unreliable. Usually, flake is used to describe a person who says they will attend events or is expected to show up but doesn’t. Flake as a verb is similar to bail, however it means to leave unexpectedly without any sort of forewarning or explanation. Flaking is seen to be worse than bailing, because flaking essentially means bailing without good reason.
flake (3)
zero derivation; verb; noun
An unreliable person or someone who bails often.
Etymology : zero derivation of the word flake
Source : Friend: “I can’t believe you flaked on us again! You’re the biggest flake I know.” September 9, 2017
Last modified: 30 November 2017