flit

verb

ˈflit 

flitted; flitting

intransitive verb

1

: to pass quickly or abruptly from one place or condition to another

2

archaic : alter, shift

3

: to move in an erratic fluttering manner

flit noun

Synonyms

• dance
• dart
• flick
• flicker
• flirt
• flitter
• flutter
• zip

Examples of flit in a Sentence

butterflies flitting around the garden

The hummingbird flitted from flower to flower.

She was always flitting around the kitchen.

Recent Examples on the Web

Visitors can fish, swim, and paddle on Lake Shelby, see native flora and fauna at the Nature Center on Middle Lake, and flit around the Butterfly Garden east of Little Lake. —Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 15 Feb. 2025

Just don’t get too set on a bedtime—the aurora borealis might surprise you by flitting across the sky on a cloudless night. —Maggie Fuller, AFAR Media, 23 Apr. 2025

Through swaths of bright, blinding sunshine, punctuated by the flitting shadows of clouds. —Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025

Endemic species of long, segmented bristle worms and tiny crustaceans graze on bacteria mats and flit among fields of chemosynthetic tube worms, growing thick as grass. —Christian Elliott, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English flitten, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse flytjask to move, Old English flēotan to float

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing flit

• do a moonlight flit

Rhymes for flit

• bit
• brit
• britt
• chit
• fit
• grit
• hit
• it
• kitt
• knit
• lit
• mitt

Kids Definition

flit

verb

ˈflit 

flitted; flitting

: to move or progress in a quick irregular manner

flit noun