What does "flannel" mean?
A soft cloth material originally woven from wool, today often combined with cotton or synthetic fibers.
Flannel
/ˈflænəl/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A soft cloth material originally woven from wool, today often combined with cotton or synthetic fibers.
- Grammar: flannel is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: face cloth, washcloth, ballocks, bath cloth.
- Useful contrasts: candor, coarse, directness.
- Usage evidence: Tom wears the same red flannel shirt every time he goes camping.
How to use "flannel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "flannel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "flannel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "flannel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "flannel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "flannel" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "face cloth" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "flannel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A soft cloth material originally woven from wool, today often combined with cotton or synthetic fibers. uncountable
"With the weather turning colder, it was time to dig out our flannel sheets and nightclothes."
- 2 a soft light woolen fabric; used for clothing wordnet
- 3 A washcloth. British, New-Zealand, countable
""The Witch of Endor was a fool to her, sir: bless you, she would make no more of raising every gentleman in the Bible out of these here beastly tombs than I should of growing cress on an old flannel.""
- 4 (usually in the plural) trousers made of flannel or gabardine or tweed or white cloth wordnet
- 5 A flannel shirt. US, countable
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 bath linen consisting of a piece of cloth used to wash the face and body wordnet
- 7 Soothing, plausible untruth or half-truth; claptrap. slang, uncountable
"Don't talk flannel!"
- 8 Synonym of flip (“hot mixture of beer, spirit, etc.”). UK, countable, obsolete, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To rub with a flannel. transitive
- 2 To wrap in flannel. transitive
- 3 To flatter; to suck up to. transitive
- 4 To waffle or prevaricate. slang, transitive
"I got a little cross and asked him to stop flannelling and to tell me what was holding me back. Were my annual assessments below par? Was there something I had done – or not done?"
Adjective
- 1 Made of flannel. not-comparable
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Tom wears the same red flannel shirt every time he goes camping."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "flannel"?
Common synonyms include: face cloth, washcloth, ballocks, bath cloth, blarney, bull.
How do you use "flannel" in a sentence?
Tom wears the same red flannel shirt every time he goes camping.
How do you pronounce "flannel"?
Pronounced /ˈflænəl/.
Etymology
From Middle English flaunneol, from Anglo-Norman flanelle (compare Norman flianné), diminutive of Old French flaine, floene (“coarse wool”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *wlānos, *wlanā (“wool”) (compare Welsh gwlân, Breton gloan), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂. More at wool.