Added 10 October 2026 flashback /ˈflæʃ.bæk/ noun Categories: LanguageActionsRare Words noun ! Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about flashback at Wordnik → Where our words come from → A dramatic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative. A vivid mental image of a past trauma or other sensation that the trauma is happening in the present, especially one that recurs. Something that evokes old memories; a throwback. verb To undergo a flashback; to experience a vivid mental image from the past. Origin From flash + back. From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA) Related Words: returnbackflashflashforwardanalepsisbackfillbackshadowingbackstorypreflashinterquel Back to today's word