Definition

Adjective: 1. Tending to fly away or be blown about easily: Used to describe hair or light, loose clothing that is not held down and moves freely, often in the wind. 2. Flighty, frivolous, or given to whims: Used to describe a person, especially a young woman, who is perceived as capricious, impulsive, or lacking seriousness.

Usage and Examples

• Describing hair or fabric:
  • The windy weather made her flyaway hair impossible to manage.
  • She wore a flyaway scarf made of sheer silk.
• Describing a person's character (often dated or literary):
  • The novel's heroine is a charming but flyaway socialite.
  • He dismissed their concerns as the ideas of a flyaway mind.

Advanced Usage Notes

• The first meaning (relating to hair or fabric) is the most common in contemporary usage.
• The second meaning (describing a person's character) can carry a slightly negative or dismissive connotation, implying a lack of depth or stability. Its use has become less frequent and may sound somewhat old-fashioned.

Variants and Related Words

• Flyawayness (noun, rare): The quality or state of being flyaway.
• Fly (verb): The root verb, meaning to move through the air.
• Away (adverb): Indicating movement to another place.

Synonyms

• For hair/fabric: fluttering, loose, windblown, floaty.
• For character: flighty, frivolous, capricious, fickle, giddy.

Antonyms

• For hair/fabric: heavy, weighted, controlled, tame.
• For character: steady, serious, dependable, constant.

Adjective

1. (of hair or clothing) worn loose
   • her flyaway hair
   • a flyaway coat
2. guided by whim and fancy
   • flighty young girls