Abstract: Antibiotic resistance was a major global problem and there was a pressing need to develop new therapeutic agents. Flavonoids are a family of plant-derived compounds with potentially exploitable activities, including direct antibacterial activity, synergism with antibiotics, and flavonoids also inhibit a number of bacterial virulence factors, such as quorum-sensing signal receptors, enzymes and toxins. Evidence of these molecular effects at the cellular level include in vitro inhibition of biofilm formation, inhibition of bacterial attachment to host ligands, and neutralisation of toxicity towards cultured cells. The latest research progress on the antibacterial mechanism of flavonoids was introduced in this article, which provided a theoretical basis for the development of natural antibacterial drugs.