fast and loose

adverb

: in a reckless or irresponsible manner

played fast and loose with the public purse strings—

Paul Stuewe

: in a craftily deceitful way

manipulated evidence … and played fast and loose with the truth—

C. V. Woodward

Examples of fast and loose in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Both American Airlines' example of managing early boarders and Dunedin's request to keep the drop-off zone at its airport fast and loose come down to the etiquette of flying. —

Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024 As concept albums go, Eternal Atake plays it pretty fast and loose, but that’s the Lil Uzi Vert way. —

Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024 Collectively, everyone played it fast and loose, sweating it out as proud stalwarts of the midday block. —

Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 3 Aug. 2024 The movie plays a little fast and loose with some aspects of science—and is certainly more action-packed than the average tornado chase. —

Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 30 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for fast and loose

Word History

First Known Use

1557, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of fast and loose was in 1557

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Fast and loose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fast%20and%20loose. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation