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
Sooty blotch looks like a brown or black blotch on the fruit; sooty blotch, unlike flyspeck, will wipe off the fruit.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 June 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
To those who grew up with Duncan in the U.S. Virgin Islands, their friend’s voyage from a picturesque flyspeck in the middle of the ocean to the basketball Hall of Fame was equal parts preordained and inconceivable.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 14 May 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
That is why presidential candidates hire squads of lawyers to flyspeck donations during a campaign.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 3 May 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
Sooty blotch looks like a brown or black blotch on the fruit; sooty blotch, unlike flyspeck, will wipe off the fruit.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 June 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
To those who grew up with Duncan in the U.S. Virgin Islands, their friend’s voyage from a picturesque flyspeck in the middle of the ocean to the basketball Hall of Fame was equal parts preordained and inconceivable.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 14 May 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
That is why presidential candidates hire squads of lawyers to flyspeck donations during a campaign.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 3 May 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
-
The whole process is more NASA than NASCAR in that there’s not a speck of grease or oil on the bright, white vinyl flooring and everybody’s hands are clean.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
25 May 2025
-
Or a percentage of a fraction of a risk — better lock him up, than risk a speck of backlash.—
David Katz,
IndieWire,
15 May 2025
Noun
-
Each shot is a singular moment in time, and plates are sometimes imbued with not just the emotional weight of the image but also flecks of dust kicked up by passing dump trucks full of debris.—
Marah Eakin,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2025
-
Then, a volunteer lit the pyre, and flecks of ashes swirled in the air.—
Sui-Lee Wee,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Don't load it up with more than 8 pounds of gear though, and avoid anything with pointy bits, as there's no padding here.—
Scott Gilbertson,
Wired News,
25 May 2025
-
Or that the minus number when the Knicks starters are on the floor is a little bit nuts.—
Mike Lupica,
New York Daily News,
24 May 2025
Noun
-
This approach has proved enormously successful, explaining everything from the behavior of subatomic particles to the evolution of the entire universe.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
23 May 2025
-
Since higher concentrations of aerosol particles creates clouds that are more reflective of the sun’s rays, the strength of an area’s aerosol particle sources matters.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
22 May 2025
Noun
-
This signals the end of a seriously rough patch for KTM, which was on the brink of collapse for a while.—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
23 May 2025
-
There's a fascinating set of new patches Chinese officials released for a series of launches with top-secret satellites over the last two months, Ars reports.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
23 May 2025
Noun
-
Instead, try drinking sparkling water and eating more fish and whole grains.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 May 2025
-
Such a fund holds derivatives tied to the prices of a basket of physical assets—crude oil, natural gas, precious metals, base metals, grains, livestock.—
William Baldwin,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
Noun
-
Probably not, but Paul has been getting the better of all the scraps between the two on WWE programming.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2025
-
The owner of that scrap metal yard agreed in a settlement with the city in 2023 that his business would only purchase legally obtained catalytic converters and copper wire.—
Caelyn Pender,
Mercury News,
19 May 2025
Noun
-
Miley Cyrus just gave fans a new look into the world of Something Beautiful, with the pop star unveiling her visual album film’s official trailer — featuring a snippet of an unreleased song — on Thursday (May 22).—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
22 May 2025
-
On the Kennedy Center’s YouTube page, there is a short promotional video with snippets from the show.—
Abigail Anthony,
National Review,
21 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flyspeck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flyspeck. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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