overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

flying.

That flies or can fly.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/

  1. That flies or can fly.

    not-comparable
    flying fox
    a flying rumour

  2. Brief or hurried.

    not-comparable
    flying visit

  3. Capable of moving rapidly; highly mobile.

    not-comparable
    flying column

  4. Not secured by yards.

    not-comparable

  5. Capable of foiling.

    not-comparable
    Flying ferries are the watercraft of the future!

  6. Designating a cattle brand consisting of a letter extended on both sides with tilde-like curved lines.

    not-comparable

  7. Being able to glide through the air.

    in-compounds · not-comparable
    flying squirrel
    flying snake
Where this word comes from

From Middle English fleynge, fleeʒinge, flihinde, vlyinde, vleoinde, flyand, ffleghand, flighand (also fleoninde, fleonninde, etc.), from Old English flēogende, from Proto-Germanic *fleugandz (“flying”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”), equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Saterland Frisian fljoogend (“flying”), West Frisian fleanend (“flying”), Dutch vliegend (“flying”), German Low German flegend (“flying”), German fliegend (“flying”), Danish flyvende (“flying”), Swedish flygande (“flying”), Icelandic fljúgandi (“flying”).

noun/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/

  1. An act of flight.

    countable

  2. The action or process of sustained motion through the air.

    uncountable

  3. The action of sustained hydrodynamic lift on hydrofoils lifting the vessel hull lifted out of the water, for sustained motion across water.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English flyinge, fleyng, fleyinge, fleynge, fleghyng, fleiʒeyng, flyeghynge, equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Danish flyvning (“flying”), Swedish flygning (“flying”), Norwegian flyvning, flygning, flyging, flying (“flying”).

verb/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/

  1. present participle and gerund of fly

    form-of · gerund · participle · present
Where this word comes from

From Middle English fleynge, fleeʒinge, flihinde, vlyinde, vleoinde, flyand, ffleghand, flighand (also fleoninde, fleonninde, etc.), from Old English flēogende, from Proto-Germanic *fleugandz (“flying”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”), equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Saterland Frisian fljoogend (“flying”), West Frisian fleanend (“flying”), Dutch vliegend (“flying”), German Low German flegend (“flying”), German fliegend (“flying”), Danish flyvende (“flying”), Swedish flygande (“flying”), Icelandic fljúgandi (“flying”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

flying has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

flying studioflying workshello, flying

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.