Flat vs. Apartment
The main difference between the flat and apartment is that the word flat is commonly used in British English and the word apartment is commonly used in American English.
Key Differences
The flat is a residence usually occupied by middle or lower class on the flip side apartment refers to a residence mainly occupied by upper or high class.
The flat is a residence with a set of rooms, typically situated on one floor within a larger building and containing several such residences whereas apartment is a set of rooms designed as a residence and typically located in a building which is occupied by more than one household.
The term flat is used in British English conversely the term apartment is mainly used in American English.
The flat sometimes refers to low-quality apartments while the apartment sometimes refers to luxurious and expensive flats.
A flat typically contains one story; on the other hand, an apartment can have multi-storeys.
Comparison Chart
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A suite of rooms in a larger building containing several such other residences
A suite of rooms forming one residence
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Language
British or UK English
American English
Occupied by
Middle or lower class
Upper class
Features
Less luxurious with fewer amenities
More luxurious with more amenities
Located
On only one floor
On many floors
Flat and Apartment Definitions
Flat
Having a smooth, even surface
A flat field.
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Apartment
A room or suite of rooms designed as a residence and generally located in a building occupied by more than one household.
Flat
Having a relatively broad level surface in relation to thickness or depth
A flat box.
Apartment
An apartment building
A row of high-rise apartments.
Flat
Being in horizontal position; lying down
Flat on his back.
Apartment
A room.
Flat
Being without slope or curvature
A flat line on a chart.
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Apartment
Apartments Chiefly British A suite of rooms within a larger building set aside for a particular purpose or person.
Flat
Having a low heel or no heel
Flat shoes.
Apartment
A complete domicile occupying only part of a building, especially one for rent; a flat.
Apartment dwellers
Flat
Free of qualification; absolute
A flat refusal.
Apartment
(archaic) A suite of rooms within a domicile, designated for a specific person or persons and including a bedroom.
Flat
Fixed; unvarying
A flat rate.
Apartment
(obsolete) A division of an enclosure that is separate from others; a compartment
Flat
Lacking interest or excitement; dull
A flat scenario.
Apartment
A conceptual space used for separation in the threading architecture. Objects in one apartment cannot directly access those in another, but must use a proxy.
Flat
Lacking in flavor
A flat stew that needs salt.
Apartment
A room in a building; a division in a house, separated from others by partitions.
Flat
Having lost effervescence or sparkle
Flat beer.
Apartment
A set or suite of rooms.
Flat
Deflated. Used of a tire.
Apartment
A compartment.
Flat
Electrically discharged. Used of a storage battery.
Apartment
A room or suite of rooms in a building comprising a dwelling unit separate from others in the building, and typically having its own separate bath, sanitary, and kitchen facilities. Such apartments are in most cases rented from the owner by those dwelling in them.
Flat
Of or relating to a horizontal line that displays no ups or downs and signifies the absence of physiological activity
A flat electroencephalogram indicates a loss of brain function.
Apartment
A suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house
Flat
Of or relating to a hierarchy with relatively few tiers or levels
A flat organization chart.
Flat
Commercially inactive; sluggish
Flat sales for the month.
Flat
Unmodulated; monotonous
A flat voice.
Flat
Lacking variety in tint or shading; uniform
"The sky was bright but flat, the color of oyster shells" (Anne Tyler).
Flat
Not glossy; matte
Flat paint.
Flat
Being below the correct pitch.
Flat
Being one half step lower than the corresponding natural key
The key of B flat.
Flat
Designating the vowel a as pronounced in bad or cat.
Flat
(Nautical) Taut. Used of a sail.
Flat
(Informal) Having small breasts.
Flat
Level with the ground; horizontally.
Flat
On or up against a flat surface; at full length.
Flat
So as to be flat.
Flat
Directly; completely
Went flat against the rules.
Flat broke.
Flat
Exactly; precisely
Arrived in six minutes flat.
Flat
(Music) Below the intended pitch.
Flat
(Business) Without interest charge.
Flat
A flat surface or part.
Flat
Often flats A stretch of level ground
Salt flats.
Flat
A shallow frame or box for seeds or seedlings.
Flat
A movable section of stage scenery, usually consisting of a wooden frame and a decorated panel of wood or cloth.
Flat
A flatcar.
Flat
A deflated tire.
Flat
A shoe with a flat heel.
Flat
A large flat piece of mail.
Flat
A horse that competes in a flat race. Also called runner.
Flat
A sign (♭) used to indicate that a note is to be lowered by a semitone.
Flat
A note that is lowered a semitone.
Flat
(Football) The area of the field to either side of an offensive formation.
Flat
An apartment on one floor of a building.
Flat
(Archaic) A story in a house.
Flat
To make flat; flatten.
Flat
(Music) To lower (a note) a semitone.
Flat
To sing or play below the proper pitch.
Flat
Having no variations in height.
The land around here is flat.
Flat
In a horizontal line or plane; not sloping.
A flat roof
Flat
Smooth; having no protrusions, indentations or other surface irregularities, or relatively so.
The surface of the mirror must be completely flat.
The carpet isn't properly flat in that corner.
She has quite a flat face.
Flat
(slang) Having small or invisible breasts and/or buttocks.
That girl is completely flat on both sides.
Flat
Without variation in level, quantity, value, tone etc.
The exchange rate has been flat for several weeks.
Flat
At a consistently depressed level; consistently lacklustre.
Sales have been flat all year, and we've barely broken even.
Flat
Of fees, fares etc., fixed; unvarying.
A flat fee
Flat rates
A flat fare on public transport
Flat
Without variations in pitch.
He delivered the speech in a flat tone.
Flat
(of colours) Without variation in tone or hue (uniform), and dull (not glossy).
The walls were painted a flat gray.
Flat
(figurative) Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; uninteresting; dull and boring.
The party was a bit flat.
The market is flat today as most traders are on holiday.
The dialogue in your screenplay is flat — you need to make it more exciting.
Flat
Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.
The author added a chapter to flesh out the book's flatter characters.
Flat
Lowered by one semitone.
Flat
(music) Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.
Your A string is flat.
Flat
Absolute; downright; peremptory.
His claim was in flat contradiction to experimental results.
I'm not going to the party and that's flat.
Flat
(of a tire or other inflated object) Deflated, especially because of a puncture.
Flat
(of a carbonated drink) With all or most of its carbon dioxide having come out of solution so that the drink no longer fizzes or contains any bubbles.
Flat
(wine) Lacking acidity without being sweet.
Flat
(of a battery) Unable to emit power; dead.
Flat
Without spin; spinless.
Flat
Sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant.
Flat
(grammar) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, such as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix; or an infinitive without the sign "to".
Many flat adverbs, as in 'run fast', 'buy cheap', etc. are from Old English.
Flat
Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.
Flat
Flattening at the ends.
Flat
(of measurements of time) Exact.
He finished the race in a flat four minutes.
Flat
So as to be flat.
Spread the tablecloth flat over the table.
Flat
Bluntly.
I asked him if he wanted to marry me and he turned me down flat.
Flat
(of accurately measured timings) Exactly, precisely.
In the mile race, Smith's time was 3:58.56, and Brown's was four minutes flat.
Flat
Used to emphasize the smallness of the measurement.
He can run a mile in four minutes flat.
Flat
Completely.
I am flat broke this month.
Flat
Directly; flatly.
Flat
Without allowance for accrued interest.
The bonds are trading flat.
Flat
An area of level ground (sometimes covered with water).
The hovercraft skimmed across the open flats.
The eastern end of the salt flat; mud flat, tidal flat, flood flat
Flat
(in the phrase 'the flat') Level ground in general.
I can run on the flat but not up hills.
The going will be easier once we're through these mountains and onto the flat.
Flat
Level horse-racing ground, as contrasted with courses incorporating jumps, or the racing done on such ground.
This horse will do better over the flat.
Flat racing, the flat season
Flat
The area in the centre of a racecourse.
Flat
(music) A note played a semitone lower than a natural, denoted by the symbol ♭ placed after the letter representing the note (e.g., B♭) or in front of the note symbol (e.g. ♭♪).
The key of E♭ has three flats.
Flat
A flat tyre/flat tire.
Flat
(in the plural) A type of ladies' shoe with a very low heel.
She liked to walk in her flats more than in her high heels.
Flat
(in the plural) A type of flat-soled running shoe without spikes.
Flat
(painting) A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolour painting.
Flat
The flat part of something:
Flat
(swordfighting) The flat side of a blade, as opposed to the sharp edge.
Flat
The palm of the hand, with the adjacent part of the fingers.
Flat
A wide, shallow container or pallet.
A flat of strawberries
Flat
(mail) A large mail piece measuring at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches, such as catalogs, magazines, and unfolded paper enclosed in large envelopes.
Flat
A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.
Flat
A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught.
Flat
(geometry) A subset of n-dimensional space that is congruent to a Euclidean space of lower dimension.
Flat
A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned.
Flat
A flat sheet for use on a bed.
Flat
(publishing) A flat, glossy children's book with few pages.
Flat
A platform on a wheel, upon which emblematic designs etc. are carried in processions.
Flat
(mining) A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.
Flat
(technical, theatre, stagecraft) A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan, or muslin, often produced in standard modules, that is used to build wall surfaces on stage. Flats can be painted and outfitted with doors and/or windows to depict a building or other part of a scene. It's a hard-surfaced alternative to a backcloth orbackdrop.
Flat
(entomology) Any of various hesperiid butterflies that spread their wings open when they land.
Flat
(historical) An early kind of toy soldier having a flat design.
Flat
(obsolete) A dull fellow; a simpleton.
Flat
(optics) A flat (i.e. plane) mirror
Flat
A cheater's die with the edges shaved to make certain rolls more likely.
Flat
An apartment, usually on one level and usually consisting of more than one room.
Flat
(poker slang) To make a flat call; to call without raising.
Flat
(intransitive) To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.
Flat
To fall from the pitch.
Flat
To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.
Flat
To make flat; to flatten; to level.
Flat
To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.
Flat
To beat or strike; pound
Flat
(transitive) To dash or throw
Flat
(intransitive) To dash, rush
Flat
Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plane.
Though sun and moonWere in the flat sea sunk.
Flat
Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground; level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed.
What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat!
I feel . . . my hopes all flat.
Flat
Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest.
A large part of the work is, to me, very flat.
Flat
Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste.
Flat
Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition.
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitableSeem to me all the uses of this world.
Flat
Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat.
Flat
Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.
Flat burglary as ever was committed.
A great tobacco taker too, - that's flat.
Flat
Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat.
Flat
Sonant; vocal; - applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant.
Flat
Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft; - said of a club.
Flat
Not having an inflectional ending or sign, as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix, or an infinitive without the sign to. Many flat adverbs, as in run fast, buy cheap, are from AS. adverbs in -ë, the loss of this ending having made them like the adjectives. Some having forms in ly, such as exceeding, wonderful, true, are now archaic.
Flat
Flattening at the ends; - said of certain fruits.
Of all who fell by saber or by shot,Not one fell half so flat as Walter Scott.
Flat
In a flat manner; directly; flatly.
Sin is flat opposite to the Almighty.
Flat
Without allowance for accrued interest.
Flat
A level surface, without elevation, relief, or prominences; an extended plain; specifically, in the United States, a level tract along the along the banks of a river; as, the Mohawk Flats.
Envy is as the sunbeams that beat hotter upon a bank, or steep rising ground, than upon a flat.
Flat
A level tract lying at little depth below the surface of water, or alternately covered and left bare by the tide; a shoal; a shallow; a strand.
Half my power, this nightPassing these flats, are taken by the tide.
Flat
Something broad and flat in form
Flat
The flat part, or side, of anything; as, the broad side of a blade, as distinguished from its edge.
Flat
A floor, loft, or story in a building;
Flat
A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.
Flat
A dull fellow; a simpleton; a numskull.
Or if you can not make a speech,Because you are a flat.
Flat
A character [$] before a note, indicating a tone which is a half step or semitone lower.
Flat
A homaloid space or extension.
Flat
To make flat; to flatten; to level.
Flat
To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.
Passions are allayed, appetites are flatted.
Flat
To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.
Flat
To become flat, or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.
Flat
To fall form the pitch.
Flat
A level tract of land
Flat
A shallow box in which seedlings are started
Flat
A musical notation indicating one half step lower than the note named
Flat
Freight car without permanent sides or roof
Flat
A deflated pneumatic tire
Flat
Scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting
Flat
A suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house
Flat
Having a horizontal surface in which no part is higher or lower than another;
A flat desk
Acres of level farmland
A plane surface
Flat
Having no depth or thickness
Flat
Not modified or restricted by reservations;
A categorical denial
A flat refusal
Flat
Stretched out and lying at full length along the ground;
Found himself lying flat on the floor
Flat
Lacking contrast or shading between tones
Flat
Lowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone;
B flat
C sharp
Flat
Flattened laterally along the whole length (e.g., certain leafstalks or flatfishes)
Flat
Lacking taste or flavor or tang;
A bland diet
Insipid hospital food
Flavorless supermarket tomatoes
Vapid beer
Vapid tea
Flat
Lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting;
A bland little drama
A flat joke
Flat
Having lost effervescence;
Flat beer
A flat cola
Flat
Not increasing as the amount taxed increases
Flat
Not made with leavening;
Most flat breads are made from unleavened dough
Flat
Parallel to the ground;
A flat roof
Flat
Without pleats
Flat
Lacking the expected range or depth; not designed to give an illusion or depth;
A film with two-dimensional characters
A flat two-dimensional painting
Flat
(of a tire) completely or partially deflated
Flat
Not reflecting light; not glossy;
Flat wall paint
A photograph with a matte finish
Flat
Lacking variety in shading;
A flat unshaded painting
Flat
At full length;
He fell flat on his face
Flat
With flat sails;
Sail flat against the wind
Flat
Below the proper pitch;
She sang flat last night
Flat
Against a flat surface;
He lay flat on his back
Flat
In a forthright manner; candidly or frankly;
He didn't answer directly
Told me straight out
Came out flat for less work and more pay
Flat
Wholly or completely;
He is flat broke
Flat vs. Apartment
The flat is a set of rooms for living in, usually on one floor of a building. The apartment is a set of rooms for living in, usually on many floors of a building. Both words refer to a residential unit that is rented out to tenants. The term “flat” is commonly used in British English. The word “apartment” is more occasionally used in American English. Flats are typically the part of a larger building. Apartments are self-contained private residences within a larger building. A flat mainly has a set of rooms but is likely to have them all on one level. An apartment may consist of many rooms, spread across a couple of floors inside a building on one level of a building. It is worth noting that the word “flat” is still used in American English and the word “apartment” exists in British English. A flat is a luxurious apartment in the United States. In the United Kingdoms, an apartment is an upscale flat and an apartment with many rooms set within a house. Flat refers to a regular flat that may or may not have a lot of amenities. Apartment tends to imply a better flat or one with more amenities and luxuries. Both words are used in the United Kingdom. A flat is generally an ordinary residence that does not constitute the entire space within a building. An apartment generally tends to imply a similar concept, but more luxurious. In this way, the flat is a residence usually occupied by the middle or lower class. While apartment refers to a residence mainly occupied by upper or high class.
What is Flat?
This term flat is mainly used in British English. The term flat is derived from the Old English word ‘flat,’ which means “floor” or “dwelling.” It implies to an apartment or a residential unit that is rented out to tenants. A flat usually implies a set of rooms that are located on only one floor. It is a set of rooms forming an individual residence, typically on one floor and within a larger building with several such residences. The definitions of flat from different sources assert that the flat only contains a single storey. This term commonly refers to apartments without a stair. The term “flat,” however, is used in Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other areas that use British English. In North America, the term “flat” is mostly used to refer to upscale apartments. In some countries, the term flat is known as housing units of lesser quality meant for low-income or mediocre families. Flat tends to imply a regular residence that may not have a lot of amenities, and that is less luxurious.
What is Apartment?
The apartment is a set of rooms for living in, usually on one floor of a building. The term apartment is derived from the French word ‘apartment’ meaning “a separated place.” It is a type of residential unit which occupies a larger building called an apartment complex, apartment building, or a tower block. The term apartment is largely preferred in American English. The American dictionaries define the apartment as a room or suite of rooms typically designed as a residence. It is generally located in a building occupied by more than one household. However, in British English, an apartment mainly refers to a flat that is well appointed or used for holidays. Also, an apartment may not be limited to only a single floor. In common, apartments refer to luxurious and expensive flats with a lot of amenities. The apartment is known as a residential unit inside a large structure or building which contains many other such dwelling units. Apartments are also called bachelor, studio, furnished, or unfurnished. Apartment usually indicates a dwelling that is more upper class or luxurious with more amenities than a traditional flat.
