fly-by-night

1 of 2

noun

ˈflī-bī-ˌnīt 

1

: one that seeks to evade responsibilities and especially creditors by flight

2

: one without established reputation or standing

especially : a shaky business enterprise

fly-by-night

2 of 2

adjective

1

: given to making a quick profit usually by shady or irresponsible acts

2

: transitory, passing

fly-by-night fashions

Examples of fly-by-night in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Using a multitude of shell companies, aliases and fly-by-night phone providers allegedly under their control, the people behind the network — which CNN has previously reported on — had sought to dupe unwitting consumers into buying shoddy service contracts for their vehicles since 2018. —Brian Fung, CNN, 4 Aug. 2023

The clubs’ finances, too, can be surprisingly fly-by-night. —Ahmed Al Omran, New York Times, 13 July 2023

Adjective

But even before that, AMPAS leaders tackled the issue of moviegoing, since the new fly-by-night entertainment had evolved into an industry. —Tim Gray, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2023

But now, allowing every fly-by-night oversees judgment-proof vendor to ship sales directly into American households is Customs anarchy. —Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1822, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1