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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What emerged was an omelet of ideal and epitomic shape—straight, proudly puffed, about six and a half inches long and two and a half inches wide, with squarish ends and neither a speck nor drop of oil or liquid egg anywhere around.—
Jeffrey Steingarten,
Vogue,
5 Apr. 2026
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Is that oblong speck an egg sac or a flake of dandruff?—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Berber carpet Berber is a type of loop pile carpet with flecks of color.—
Faith Wakefield,
USA Today,
12 Mar. 2026
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Using x-ray fluorescence spectrometry, scholars determined that the ancient off-white fluid was composed of calcite, huntite, and miniscule flecks of yellow orpiment, a highly toxic sulfide of arsenic that Egyptians also used in medicine to treat syphilis and malaria.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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When the crew retracted the drill to replace its bit, an overpowering jet of oil fountained from the well.—
Jeffrey Marlow,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Young Alfred Tennyson grew up in a similarly provincial bit of England, tucked away in his father’s vicarage on a remote part of the east coast of England in a village of fewer than a hundred souls.—
Kathryn Hughes,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
In the late 1990s, when physicists unexpectedly discovered that neutrinos have mass, Thierry Lasserre abandoned cosmology to go all in on the particles.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Subatomic particles, gravity wells and the beginning of the universe – these are difficult and mysterious concepts that are better understood with storytelling and metaphor.—
Regina G. Barber,
NPR,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The ’24 Sox wore ’49’ patches on their jerseys that entire season.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Most important for companies considering replacing patches of their workforce with AI, the MIT data suggests AI struggles to perform more complicated tasks.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Look for whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and words like steamed, baked, poached, roasted, broiled or grilled.—
Dr. Sarah Kinsella,
Boston Herald,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Regardless of the type, rye bread can be a nutritious option, but that's especially so when it’s made from whole-grain rye.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Will Mecklenburg County scrap future community resource centers?—
Mary Ramsey
April 6,
Charlotte Observer,
6 Apr. 2026
-
That’s a change from post-pandemic habits when, too often, one blockbuster would suck up all the oxygen at multiplexes and leave the rest of the new releases to settle for scraps.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The alternately gloomy and euphoric pop songs cut and paste snippets of UK pirate radio culture and New York’s Paradise Garage.—
Aimee Cliff,
Pitchfork,
3 Apr. 2026
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Those remarks gained steam on social media on Friday, when the watchdog Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance posted a video of the snippet.—
Lance Reynolds,
Boston Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flyspeck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flyspeck. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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