free-floating

adjective

free-float·​ing ˈfrē-ˈflō-tiŋ How to pronounce free-floating (audio)
1
a
: floating freely
free-floating vegetation
b
: lacking specific attachment, direction, or purpose
free-floating ideas
2
: felt as an emotion without apparent cause
free-floating anxiety

Examples of free-floating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Most cosmologists believe that these stars were the first large, free-floating structures to illuminate our universe, and that black holes appeared later. Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 24 Sep. 2025 In 2016, Yolanda Hadid got her breast implants removed on an episode of Real Housewives, after learning there was free-floating silicone in her body. Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025 If luck holds, the then free-floating embryo develops into a larvae, which settles on a reef and begins life as a coral polyp. Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2025 During the tests, Olympus was mounted upside-down on one of ORBIT's floating platforms, which glides on a thin cushion of air across an ultra-flat floor without any friction, reproducing a state of weightless free-floating in two dimensions, similar to how pucks float on an air hockey table. Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 9 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for free-floating

Word History

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of free-floating was in 1815

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Cite this Entry

“Free-floating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free-floating. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

Medical Definition

free-floating

adjective
free-float·​ing ˈfrē-ˈflōt-iŋ How to pronounce free-floating (audio)
: felt as an emotion without apparent cause
free-floating anxiety

More from Merriam-Webster on free-floating

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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