flyaway
Học thuậtThân thiện
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
- (of hair or clothing) worn loose
- her flyaway hair
- a flyaway coat
- guided by whim and fancy
- flighty young girls