Any house/apartment/frat house/trailer/etc. which is used for individuals to crash (sleep, chill, hang out, lurk, etc.) for a
period of time. In order to "crash", one must not actually live there (
e.g. have their name on the lease, own said flophouse, etc.). Flophouses are typically used by
college students, drug addicts, transients, vagrants, or other unsavory characters.
A flophouse may also be the home owned by the parents of a college student, who after being away at
college, wishes to live as if he/she is still at college (e.g. staying out all night, returning just to crash at mom and
dad's house, then leaving again), rather than conforming to the pre-college rules.
Example #1
Dude: (Talking to someone passed out face first on the
floor of his college apartment) Hey
man, who the
hell are you? What do you think this is, a flophouse??
Bro: Sorry dude, I must have passed out for a minute.
Example #2
Mom: Where have you BEEN for the last three days? You come home just to sleep?? What do you think this is, a flophouse??!!
Son: What's your problem? I'm an adult now!