as in speck
a very small piece
surreptitiously removed a flyspeck of dirt from the china
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Recent Examples of flyspeck
That’s a flyspeck in a galaxy that measures 100,000 light years across and a universe that is a staggering 94 billion light years.
—
Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 21 Dec. 2022
Travelers jumping into the West Texas badlands from Mexico through Candelaria, a flyspeck village 50 miles up two-lane blacktop northwest of Presidio, might be deceived by the prevailing verdant quiet.
—Dudley Althaus, San Antonio Express-News, 26 June 2021
But with a thousand islands scattered along their country’s jade-green Adriatic coast, from deserted flyspecks to hipster outposts, there’s no shortage of places to lick one’s wounds—or bask in silver-medal glory.
—Anja Mutić, WSJ, 19 July 2018
Compared to this, Comcast is a flyspeck, and Charter hasn’t even gotten started.
—David Dayen, The New Republic, 30 Apr. 2018
Amid these forces, Fed rate hikes are a relative flyspeck, says Doug Duncan, chief economist of Fannie Mae.
—Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 14 June 2017
Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 21 Dec. 2022
Travelers jumping into the West Texas badlands from Mexico through Candelaria, a flyspeck village 50 miles up two-lane blacktop northwest of Presidio, might be deceived by the prevailing verdant quiet.
—Dudley Althaus, San Antonio Express-News, 26 June 2021
But with a thousand islands scattered along their country’s jade-green Adriatic coast, from deserted flyspecks to hipster outposts, there’s no shortage of places to lick one’s wounds—or bask in silver-medal glory.
—Anja Mutić, WSJ, 19 July 2018
Compared to this, Comcast is a flyspeck, and Charter hasn’t even gotten started.
—David Dayen, The New Republic, 30 Apr. 2018
Amid these forces, Fed rate hikes are a relative flyspeck, says Doug Duncan, chief economist of Fannie Mae.
—Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 14 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flyspeck
Noun
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Most astronomers now agree that each of these minuscule crimson specks—which bear a striking resemblance to enormous, faraway stars—actually has a burgeoning black hole at its center.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
27 May 2026
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There are blue spots, specks, scratches, flares, and bits of crud in almost ALL of the Apollo photos.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
18 May 2026
Noun
-
From the train windows, expect to spot the aquamarine waves of Ligurian Sea crashing against the stony coast, candy-colored houses huddled together on the hillsides, tiny wooden boats gliding through village harbors, and flecks of golden-sand beaches.—
Jessica Puckett,
Condé Nast Traveler,
5 June 2026
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The light had a wintry grain, with flecks of color suspended in it.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
Noun
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In Cawker City, population 465, the twine ball is a symbol of community—a collective commitment to the bit.—
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 June 2026
-
A little bit of the all-or-nothing from him.—
David Troy OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
6 June 2026
Noun
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The team then used ultrasonication, a technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to agitate and process materials, and broke the bulk liquid metal into fine particles.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
3 June 2026
-
So by necessity, the encoding must be approximate, and therefore some aspects of what’s going on in the space-time can’t be perfectly recovered by measuring a subset of the quantum particles in the usual way.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
3 June 2026
Noun
-
For bees and pollinators, any patch of flowering plants in summer works.—
Allison Palmer,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 May 2026
-
To add to it, apply a bit of your favorite spot treatment or a pimple patch.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
The epic journey of Altar Stone To uncover the secrets of the Altar Stone, researchers combined sandstone provenance analysis—also known as mineral grain dating—with ice flow modeling to identify potential sources and transport pathways.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
6 June 2026
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Export bans do not create more fertilizer or more grain.—
John W.H. Denton AO,
Fortune,
6 June 2026
Noun
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The food scraps and stalks are brought to the lab where they're dried, ground up and mixed with various natural binders and fillers leading to a compostable alternative to cement or epoxies.—
Marcella Baietto,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
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Repeat with second batch of dough scraps.—
Rebecca Firkser,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
1 June 2026
Noun
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That’s one of the more idyllic snippets of an adventurous 310-mile bike ride through the heart of Florida while following a bikepacking route called the Huracan.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 May 2026
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In a new Instagram post, the 50-year-old actress shared snippets from her peaceful weekend, which included photos of her out in nature, hanging out with her friends and with her children.—
Lori A Bashian,
FOXNews.com,
27 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flyspeck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flyspeck. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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