How to Use flat-out in a Sentence

flat-out

1 of 2 adjective
  • Egor Dëmin can flat-out shoot the rock.
    — C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026
  • On the right, there has been flat-out denial.
    — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2025
  • Ehlers can flat-out break games wide open with his pace and finesse.
    — Harman Dayal, New York Times, 11 July 2025
  • Then there’s a whole class of hacks that to me just seem, well, flat-out weird.
    — Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Mar. 2025
  • Kerr flat-out doesn’t want to play Kuminga.
    — Zach Harper, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
  • Only a flat-out ban on trading can put that to rest.
    — Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2025
  • And some have flat-out been in our nation legally.
    — Matt Alderton, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Just flat-out ceases to function.
    — Rachel Raposas, People.com, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Any Ohio resident knows that claim is a flat-out lie.
    — Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Others flat-out say that Rocky is too old to still be nursing.
    — Melissa Willets, Parents, 5 May 2025
  • Britain is flat-out refusing to be drawn into the war.
    — Sam McNeil, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2026
  • Britain is flat-out refusing to be drawn into the war.
    — John Leicester, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Stanton flat-out denied that a Swift song would close out the film.
    — Rolling Stone, 1 June 2026
  • There is more to the Ghanaian’s game than just flat-out running.
    — David Ornstein, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Anyone who says newsboy caps are the same as flat caps is flat-out lying.
    — Maverick Li, Men's Health, 14 July 2023
  • Of course, Ewers wouldn’t flat-out bash the signing.
    — Miami Herald, 25 June 2026
  • First, the claim that Passkeys Pwned shows that passkeys can be stolen is flat-out wrong.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The church flat-out lied to their faithful parishioners for nearly two years.
    — Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 29 Apr. 2024
  • The third is about the flat-out value proposition.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Sprinting might look flat-out from the start but athletes need to build through the phases.
    — Liam Tharme, New York Times, 28 June 2025
  • That’s a 44% increase in flat-out denials statewide.
    — Ascend Agency, New York Daily News, 11 May 2026
  • This was a flat-out fight with officials desperate to break it up.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
  • Alonso has flat-out been one of the best players in baseball this season.
    — Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 July 2025
  • The singer refused to flat-out say the Eagles are calling it quits.
    — Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Some of his cooking, like the pil-pil and the fluke in olive oil, is flat-out Iberian.
    — Pete Wells, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2023
  • The end of this two-drinks-past-the-limit, back-and-forth game was flat-out surreal.
    — Michael Silver, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Everyone else is trudging along, if not toiling through a flat-out slump.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2025
  • Darnold looked jumpy and just flat-out missed on several open passes downfield.
    — Ted Nguyen, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
  • The roller coaster before all of this makes the whole of it flat-out remarkable out of the gates.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 June 2023
  • This was described as a flat-out fight as Rhodes and Fatu brawled into the crowd.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026

flat out

2 of 2 adverb
  • We asked for more time but they refused us flat out.
  • I told him flat out that I have no intention of marrying him.
  • The car does 180 mph flat out.
  • There's been flat out bad weeks, and flat out good weeks, too.
    — Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2025
  • These people are flat out nuts.
    — Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 4 Apr. 2026
  • The rest was just flat out ridiculous.
    — Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Sep. 2025
  • The Red Sox have been flat out bad.
    — Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 14 June 2026
  • So how did a team that played so well at home fall flat out on the road?
    — Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News, 28 Mar. 2018
  • Not everyone could play flat out.
    — Literary Hub, 16 Mar. 2026
  • However, Collins knows how to flat out play.
    — Kansas City Star, 19 Feb. 2026
  • Murphy has long arms, is agile and is just a flat out ball player.
    — Chris Kirschner, ajc, 13 Nov. 2017
  • In our half-mask tests, the iPhone flat out refused to unlock for us.
    — Michelle Maltais, USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2020
  • Not many people have heard of Schwalbach, but this kid can flat out play.
    — Chris Hays, orlandosentinel.com, 16 Oct. 2020
  • That’s flat out a controllable that our team knows that keeps you from winning.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Age 45 is the age of 'perimenopause', not flat out menopause.
    — Karla Adam, Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2023
  • Some are just flat out funny, with nothing more on their minds than the spritz of escapism.
    — Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 June 2020
  • Positions are won out there; some guys attack it and do a great job and some guys just flat out fold.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2024
  • Rolen hit with consistent power and could flat out play the hot corner.
    — USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2023
  • Just a flat out entertaining read, and a book worth spending time with.
    — John Warner, chicagotribune.com, 25 Dec. 2021
  • The worst cover done by an actual artist on the soundtrack; this one flat out doesn’t work.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 6 July 2022
  • Skim-ice has kept me from my beloved small lake passion and continual snow events just flat out stink.
    — Jim Gronaw, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 6 Mar. 2021
  • Anyone who tells you the Dolphins offense looked good today is a flat out liar.
    — Miami Herald, 8 Aug. 2025
  • Even with Burns, the Panthers flat out stunk as a pass-rushing defense.
    — Larry Holder, The Athletic, 18 July 2024
  • Stevenson has rare movement skills for a 246-pound back and can flat out make people miss.
    — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 29 Apr. 2021
  • Trump is saying, flat out, that Democrats are opposed to the military.
    — Chris Cillizza, CNN, 23 Mar. 2018
  • Noonan looked back toward the yard, then down at the rumpled patch of grass where Judge had been flat out on his back.
    — Colin Barrett, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021
  • Gabriel Martinelli was lying flat out.
    — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Nothing in the room but a glass night lamp on a table and, set flat out under the windows like a cheap placemat, the bed.
    — Gail Sheehy, Daily Intelligencer, 9 Sep. 2017
  • The European bourses were flat out of the gates, but perked up throughout the morning.
    — Bernhard Warner, Fortune, 17 June 2020
  • Berube hasn’t just implied but said flat out that his team as a whole needs to make keeping pucks out a bigger priority.
    — Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flat-out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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