# flashback

/ˈfɫæʃˌbæk/ (US) · /flˈæʃbæk/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/flashback
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. in a story or film

noun · CEFR B1

a scene in a movie or book that shows something that happened in the past.

For teachers: a narrative device that interrupts the chronological flow of a story to depict events that occurred at an earlier time.

- The movie uses a flashback to show how the two main characters first met in college.
- The director employs a series of black-and-white flashbacks to provide essential context for the protagonist's current motivations.

### 2. a traumatic memory

noun · CEFR B2

a sudden and very clear memory of a bad event from the past that feels like it is happening again.

For teachers: a vivid, involuntary recurrence of a past traumatic experience, often accompanied by intense emotional or physical distress.

- The loud noise gave the soldier a flashback to his time in the war.
- Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder may suffer from intrusive flashbacks that make it difficult to distinguish the present from past trauma.

### 3. drug-related

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

feeling the effects of a drug again, long after you have stopped taking it.

For teachers: the recurrence of the effects of a hallucinogenic substance, such as LSD, well after the initial pharmacological effects have subsided.

- He experienced a strange flashback several months after he had stopped using the drug.
- Clinical literature describes drug-induced flashbacks as spontaneous sensory distortions that can occur without warning during periods of sobriety.

## Examples

- The smell of the ocean gave him a sudden flashback to his childhood.
- After the accident, she suffered from frequent flashbacks that made it difficult to drive on the motorway.
- The novelist uses a series of vivid flashbacks to reveal the protagonist's hidden motivations, blurring the line between the character's traumatic past and his increasingly unstable present.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.