flat out

1. 1.

   in a blunt direct manner

   “he spoke bluntly”

   “he stated his opinion flat-out”

   “he was criticized roundly”

   Synonymsblufflybluntlybrusquelyroundly
2. 2.

   at top speed

   “he ran flat out to catch the bus”

   “he was off down the road like blue murder”

   Synonymslike blue murder

Questions about flat out

What does flat out mean?

flat out means "in a blunt direct manner". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for flat out?

Close synonyms include bluffly, bluntly, brusquely, roundly, like blue murder. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is flat out a common word?

flat out is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.