as in to flit
to make an irregular series of quick, sudden movements
the birds flittered back and forth between the backyard feeder and the safety of the trees
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of flitter
Our attention constantly jumps from one flittering speck to the next, and the storm of activity blocks our view of the whole sphere.
—
Oshan Jarow, Vox, 8 Jan. 2025
My eyes gleefully flittered among the many gilded furnishings, opulent light fixtures, and damask wall treatments.
—Nashia Baker, Architectural Digest, 7 Dec. 2024
The unexpected sight of the little orange carp flittering around in a glorified puddle was everywhere, a social-media must-post, a Walden surrounded by concrete at a corner known as the Bed-Stuy Aquarium.
—The Editors, Curbed, 2 Dec. 2024
Where India Song’s Anna-Marie and her various colonial suitors move languidly and speechlessly through the chateau like ghosts, Jeanne Dielman is continually flittering between the chores of cooking, cleaning, and errand-running.
—Erik Morse, Vogue, 24 Apr. 2024
These flittering finches are adaptable and have learned to live in cities, towns and farmland.
—Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 13 Apr. 2024
Western tanagers escort rafters downstream — yellow flashes flittering from juniper to juniper.
—Pete Zimowsky, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024
Through its evolution, the term seems to flitter between abstract and concrete.
—Leo Kim, WIRED, 5 Sep. 2023
As Francis prayed before a statue of the Madonna, nearby wildfires turned the sky smoky black and sent ash flittering down on the crowd.
—Nicole Winfield, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2023
Oshan Jarow, Vox, 8 Jan. 2025
My eyes gleefully flittered among the many gilded furnishings, opulent light fixtures, and damask wall treatments.
—Nashia Baker, Architectural Digest, 7 Dec. 2024
The unexpected sight of the little orange carp flittering around in a glorified puddle was everywhere, a social-media must-post, a Walden surrounded by concrete at a corner known as the Bed-Stuy Aquarium.
—The Editors, Curbed, 2 Dec. 2024
Where India Song’s Anna-Marie and her various colonial suitors move languidly and speechlessly through the chateau like ghosts, Jeanne Dielman is continually flittering between the chores of cooking, cleaning, and errand-running.
—Erik Morse, Vogue, 24 Apr. 2024
These flittering finches are adaptable and have learned to live in cities, towns and farmland.
—Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 13 Apr. 2024
Western tanagers escort rafters downstream — yellow flashes flittering from juniper to juniper.
—Pete Zimowsky, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024
Through its evolution, the term seems to flitter between abstract and concrete.
—Leo Kim, WIRED, 5 Sep. 2023
As Francis prayed before a statue of the Madonna, nearby wildfires turned the sky smoky black and sent ash flittering down on the crowd.
—Nicole Winfield, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flitter
Verb
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But what lingers just as persistently is a certain slipperiness of intent—a sense that Lynch himself, so aware of the complex, symbiotic play of light and darkness in human nature, was content to flit eternally, and with a mosquito’s fickle curiosity, between two moral poles.—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
4 Feb. 2025
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Sherlock’s Watson is one of the least stagey in the canon of Holmes adaptations, playing on Freeman’s ability to flit between dramatic and comic material with a natural, quick poise.—
Rory Doherty,
Vulture,
24 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The Czech Republic Under-21 international would then have striker Darwin Nunez darting towards him, so repeatedly hit it long where, inevitably, Virgil van Dijk won the aerial duel against Richarlison and Liverpool regained control.—
Jay Harris,
The Athletic,
7 Feb. 2025
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According to Storyful, Seren ended up far from shore after darting away from her owner and into the waves along Newton Beach in Porthcawl, Wales.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Two large, white bracts (structures surrounding the flower) flutter delicately in a light breeze, reminiscent of white birds, spirits, or tissues in a tree.—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 Feb. 2025
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Yellow blossoms on little-leaf green-twig shrubs attract local bees, and butterflies flutter in a mad dance around sprays of blue mistflower.—
Sunshine Flint,
AFAR Media,
13 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near flitter
Cite this Entry
“Flitter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flitter. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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