French word

flash-back

Pronunciation

IPA/flaʃbak/

Meaning

  • masculine nounflashback

Example

Le film commence par un flash-back sur son enfance.

The film begins with a flashback to his childhood.

Illustration for flash-back (flashback)

More examples

En regardant la photo, il a eu un flash-back sur son enfance.

Looking at the photo, he experienced a flashback of his childhood.

Core concept

A present moment suddenly gives way to an earlier scene, whether in a film or in the mind.

Common phrases

  • faire un flash-back

    experience a flashback

  • un flash-back sur son enfance

    a flashback of his childhood

Similar words

souvenir: A memory of a past event or keepsake.
mémoire: The mental ability to store past experiences and information.

Definition in French

Souvenir bref et soudain d'un événement passé, ou procédé narratif montrant une scène antérieure.

Word origin

French borrowed flash-back from the English compound flashback, first used for a retrospective narrative technique and later extended to sudden recollection.

Usage tips

  • Flash-back is masculine in French, so the usual article is un flash-back and the demonstrative form is ce flash-back.

Opposites

Word lists with this word