noun

fly

FLEYE

noun

A small flying insect, especially the common housefly.

"A fly kept buzzing around the kitchen."

verb

To travel through the air, especially by aircraft.

"They flew to Tokyo for their honeymoon."

"Birds fly south for the winter."

To move or proceed very quickly.

"Time really flies when you're having fun."

adj

Stylish, cool, or fashionable.

"He showed up in a fly new jacket."

How to Use Fly

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThe insect, or the verb for traveling through the air, or (slang) something stylish and cool.

When to use it

The "stylish/cool" sense of fly is informal slang, mainly used in casual or hip-hop-influenced speech.

Common pairings

fly a plane flies buzzing fly high

Word Forms

flier comparative, flyer comparative, flew past tense, flown past tense, flied past tense, flies plural, fly plural, flew plural, flies plural, Flys plural, flies singular, fly singular, flew singular, fliest singular, flyest singular, flewest singular, flieth singular, flyeth singular, flies singular, fliest superlative, flyest superlative

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Can you complete this real example?

A _____ kept buzzing around the kitchen.

Etymology

From Old English flēoge ("a fly"), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to fly," ultimately traced to a Proto-Indo-European word with the same meaning.

Synonyms

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flee abscond flit zoom

Antonyms

walk stay remain

Related Words

swap zoom come flee leave stay end live

Rhymes for fly

firefly chiefly briefly butterfly dragonfly

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flee abscond flit zoom walk stay remain swap come leave end live