free-floating
adjective
free-float·ing
ˈfrē-ˈflō-tiŋ 
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
The film’s unspeakably haunting final shot typifies Cannes 2026 to a tee, its free-floating detachment from reality doubling as a revelatory expression of our own relationship to it.
—
David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 22 May 2026
Yesterday in California, the physical world and the world of free-floating grievance and ideological bluster met once again, when two teenagers attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing a security guard and two others, before taking their own lives.
—Juliette Kayyem, The Atlantic, 19 May 2026
Scientists were trying to locate free-floating oil during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill when large patches of seaweed kept appearing as false positives in the data.
—Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 13 May 2026
But the key to making this work is a free-floating efficiency parameter – a dial that controls the strength of the outburst.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 3 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for free-floating
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David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 22 May 2026
Yesterday in California, the physical world and the world of free-floating grievance and ideological bluster met once again, when two teenagers attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing a security guard and two others, before taking their own lives.
—Juliette Kayyem, The Atlantic, 19 May 2026
Scientists were trying to locate free-floating oil during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill when large patches of seaweed kept appearing as false positives in the data.
—Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 13 May 2026
But the key to making this work is a free-floating efficiency parameter – a dial that controls the strength of the outburst.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 3 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for free-floating
Cite this Entry
“Free-floating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free-floating. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
free-floating
adjective
free-float·ing
ˈfrē-ˈflōt-iŋ
: felt as an emotion without apparent cause
free-floating anxiety
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