Red Flag - Wiktionary

Jump to content

Contents

move to sidebar hide

• Beginning
• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Pronunciation
  • 1.2 Noun
    • 1.2.1 Coordinate terms
    • 1.2.2 Derived terms
    • 1.2.3 Translations
  • 1.3 Further reading

• Entry
• Discussion

English

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions

• Read
• Edit
• View history

General

• What links here
• Related changes
• Upload file
• Permanent link
• Page information
• Cite this page
• Get shortened URL
• Download QR code

Print/export

• Create a book
• Download as PDF
• Printable version

In other projects Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wiktionary, the free dictionary See also: Red Flag

English

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

[edit]

red flag (plural red flags)

1. (literally) A flag that is red, especially associated with leftist revolutionary ideologies.
   • 2018 November 11, “Polish government officials march with far-right groups to mark century of independence”, in The Daily Telegraph‎[1], archived from the original on 7 March 2023:Some chanted: "Pride, pride, national pride" and "Poland should be national not red or rainbow-coloured", in a reference to the red flag of the Soviet Union and the symbol of gay pride.
   1. (motor racing) A flag used as a signal that the race must be stopped immediately (and possibly restarted).
      • 2005, James A. Vlasich, Horsehide, Pigskin, Oval Tracks and Apple Pie, →ISBN, page 177:Typically, a red flag is used when it rains or when the safety of the clean-up crews is in danger because there is too much debris or oil on the track.
      • 2017, Jill Sherman, Racing Personal Watercraft (Sea-Doos), →ISBN, page 37:A red flag may be waved after a bad start or if a rider is injured. If you see a red flag, stop immediately and return to the starting line.
      • 2020 September 13, Andrew Benson, “Tuscan Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton claims 90th win after incredible race”, in BBC News‎[2], archived from the original on 3 April 2023:The race was punctuated by two red flags, the first caused by a pile-up on the pit straight, the second by a high-speed crash for Lance Stroll.
2. (informal, figuraritve) A cue, warning, or alert; a sign or signal that something is wrong. Antonym: green flag Improper formatting is a red flag to look for other problems with the data.
   • 2016 July 9, Angelina Chapin, “Text therapy: once my therapist sent me an emoji, I knew it was game over”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 May 2023:The first major red flag with Barbara was her use of emojis. After our second session, in which I listed my many negative qualities, she said my long-term mission was to accept myself – a statement she ended with a winking face.
   • 2021 June 19, David Vecsey, “Former Times Columnist George Vecsey Gets Tribute From Son”, in The New York Times‎[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 7 January 2023:In the pre-cellphone world of the early '80s, my dad might have done a few things that today would raise a few red flags, but in truth cultivated a sense of independence. "I'm headed to the ballpark," he'd say, dropping $20 on the desk in a Chicago hotel room. "Take the El to Addison, your ticket should be at Will Call. Try to find the media room after the game or just hang around outside the gate or just meet me back here."
   • 2021 October 5, Ekin Genç, “Investors Spent Millions on 'Evolved Apes' NFTs. Then They Got Scammed.”, in VICE‎[5], archived from the original on 28 May 2023:Evolved Ape investors noticed several red flags leading up to Evil Ape's rug pull. After the public sale on September 24, the announcements seemed suspiciously unprofessional and several of the leaders were not around anymore, one investor who requested anonymity due to the ongoing fallout from the scam told Motherboard. But they chalked it up to lack of experience at the time. "I don't think this giant storm was ever what was expected," the investor said.
   • 2026 February 13, Emma Loffhagen, “‘His favourite book was by Jordan Peterson, which was a massive ick’: how books perform on dating apps”, in The Guardian‎[6], →ISSN:These signals are increasingly sorted into the language of “green flags” and “red flags” – a discourse turbocharged by social media, where certain titles or genres are treated as instant proxies for someone’s values, politics or emotional availability.
3. (idiomatic, US) Something that will enrage a particular person; a red rag.
4. (rail transport, UK) A flag formerly used by a railway guard to warn the driver not to start the train.

Coordinate terms

[edit] colours of flags

• beige flag
• black flag
• blue flag
• chequered flag
• green flag
• orange flag
• pink flag
• red flag
• white flag
• yellow flag

Derived terms

[edit]

• red-flag (verb)
• red-flaggy
• red flag in front of a bull
• red flag knowledge
• red flag law
• red flag to a bull
• red flag warning

Translations

[edit] a cue, warning, or alert; a sign or signal that something is wrong

Chinese: Mandarin: 紅燈 / 红灯 (zh) (hóngdēng, literally “red light”) Dutch: alarmbel (nl) f Finnish: punainen lippu, varoitusmerkki (fi) French: avertissement (fr) m, signal d'alarme (fr), mauvais signe m German: Warnsignal (de) n, Warnhinweis (de) m Hungarian: figyelmeztető jel Kapampangan: malutung bandera Polish: czerwona lampka f; czerwona lampka ostrzegawcza f Spanish: bandera roja f, señal de alarma f, alerta (es) f Telugu: ఎర్ర జెండా (erra jeṇḍā)

socialist symbol

Chinese: Cantonese: 紅旗 / 红旗 (hung4 kei4) Mandarin: 紅旗 / 红旗 (zh) (hóngqí) Finnish: punalippu (fi) French: drapeau rouge (fr) m Hungarian: vörös zászló Italian: bandiera rossa f Japanese: 赤旗 (ja) (あかはた, akahata) Korean: 적기(赤旗) (ko) (jeokgi), 붉은기 (bulgeun'gi) Malay: bendera merah Portuguese: bandeira vermelha f Russian: кра́сный флаг m (krásnyj flag) Spanish: bandera roja f Tagalog: bandilang pula

Further reading

[edit]

• “red flag”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “red flag”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “red flag”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “red flag, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “red-flag, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=red_flag&oldid=89595938" Categories:

• English terms with audio pronunciation
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
• English multiword terms
• English terms with quotations
• en:Motor racing
• English informal terms
• English terms with usage examples
• English idioms
• American English
• en:Rail transportation
• British English
• en:Communism
• en:Flags

Hidden categories:

• Pages with entries
• Pages with 1 entry
• Entries with translation boxes
• Terms with Mandarin translations
• Terms with Dutch translations
• Terms with Finnish translations
• Terms with French translations
• Terms with German translations
• Terms with Hungarian translations
• Terms with Kapampangan translations
• Terms with Polish translations
• Terms with Spanish translations
• Terms with Telugu translations
• Cantonese terms with redundant transliterations
• Terms with Cantonese translations
• Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations
• Terms with Italian translations
• Terms with Japanese translations
• Terms with Korean translations
• Terms with Malay translations
• Terms with Portuguese translations
• Terms with Russian translations
• Terms with Tagalog translations

Search Search Toggle the table of contents red flag 14 languages Add topic