flightier; flightiest
1
: swift
2
: lacking stability or steadiness:
a
: easily upset : volatile
a flighty temper
b
: easily excited : skittish
a flighty horse
flightily adverb
flightiness noun

Examples of flighty in a Sentence

an actress who specializes in playing silly, flighty women you have to be quiet while the deer are grazing, as they are flighty animals and will run if they hear you
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.
Such matters were neither trivial nor flighty. David Folkenflik, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025 The trouble of flighty photons Simon Devitt, research director at the Centre for Quantum Software and Information at the University of Technology, Sydney, thinks PsiQuantum’s focus on skipping the NISQ regime and jumping straight to full fault tolerance is a good approach. Edd Gent, IEEE Spectrum, 7 Oct. 2025 The source of Nora’s flighty, noncommital personality is never explained. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025 Her Nora seems flighty and light-hearted – as her husband seems to see her – until a crisis begins to take shape within their house. Rob Hubbard, Twin Cities, 21 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for flighty

Word History

First Known Use

1552, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of flighty was in 1552

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Cite this Entry

“Flighty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flighty. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

flighty

adjective
flightier; flightiest
1
: easily excited : skittish
flighty horses
2
flightily adverb
flightiness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on flighty

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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