What does flakiness mean?
Flakiness means the quality of being unreliable, inconsistent, or prone to intermittent failure. Applied to a person, it describes someone whose behavior, attendance, or performance cannot be depended upon. Applied to a system, it indicates that the system sometimes works normally and sometimes fails or behaves unpredictably. In software and testing, flakiness is an established technical term for tests that produce different results without a corresponding change in the code, as well as for unreliable services and networks. The word is more conversational than formal, but it is especially common in technology, engineering, and troubleshooting discussions. Compared with broader words such as unreliability, flakiness often emphasizes inconsistency or unpredictability rather than a complete absence of function. It is also a useful noun when the concern is recurring: a system may be available overall while its flakiness continues to create interruptions, failed deployments, or unreliable test results.
nounThe quality of being flaky, especially of being unreliable, inconsistent, or prone to intermittent failure. In technical contexts, it refers to the tendency of software, hardware, systems, or tests to fail unpredictably.
- The quality of being unreliable, inconsistent, or erratic, especially in a person's behavior or character.
- The tendency of software, tests, hardware, or a network to fail intermittently or unpredictably.
"The team's delay was caused by the continued flakiness of the wireless network."
"His usual flakiness made it difficult for the group to depend on him."
"The release was delayed by persistent test flakiness on several different platforms."
Usually uncountable, with no regular plural form. It may be modified by words such as software, test, network, or general.
"Engineers worked to reduce the flakiness affecting the deployment process."
A system can be online and still be flaky: when failures arrive intermittently, flakiness is the name of the problem.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does flakiness come from?
Flakiness was formed in English by adding the suffix -ness to flaky, which itself is derived from flake with the suffix -y. The family therefore connects the noun's sense of unreliability with the older, broader idea of a material or thing tending to separate or fail in flakes. The exact point at which flaky acquired its modern figurative sense is not securely established, so the development is best understood through the established English derivation rather than a precise date.
How flakiness is actually used
Generally informal, though the term is common in engineering and technical writing. It usually carries a negative or mildly critical connotation. The technical sense often implies that a system works in some circumstances but fails unpredictably in others.
Easily confused with flakiness
Flakiness is the noun naming the quality of being unreliable or inconsistent, while flaky is the adjective describing the person, system, or thing that has that quality.