fly
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: flī
ipa: /flaɪ/
ipa: [flaɪ]
ipa: [flɑj]
ipa: [flaɪ]
ipa: [fləj]
ipa: [flɑɪ]
rhymes: -aɪ
Forms: form: flier
form: flyer
form: fliest
form: flyest
Etymology: Uncertain; probably from the verb or noun.
Senses: examples: text: be assured, O man of sin—pilferer of small wares and petty larcener—that there is an eye within keenly glancing from some loophole contrived between accordions and tin breastplates that watches your every movement, and is "fly,"— to use a term peculiarly comprehensible to dishonest minds—to the slightest gesture of illegal conveyancing.
ref: 1854, Charles Dickens, “Household Words”, in Arcadia, volume 7, page 381:
glosses: Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.
examples: text: Some say God was an alien that tampered with our DNA, the 3 kings followed ufos & Mary had a fly shag 🤔🤫
ref: 2023 December 1, @Davo_Mack, Twitter:
glosses: Clandestine, surreptitious
examples: text: He's pretty fly.
text: when Ortega got fixed up in his fly duds like that, an ord'nary man's overcoat wouldn't make 'im a pair o' socks.
ref: 1888, Frederick Thickstun Clark, A Mexican Girl, page 270:
text: Give it to me, baby! Uh huh, uh huh! And all the girlies say, I’m pretty fly for a white guy.
ref: 1998, “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)”performed by The Offspring:
text: Starring the light-skinned Ron O'Neal with his shoulder-length perm and fly threads, Super Fly exudes a sense of black pride as O'Neal bucks the dope game, dismisses his white girlfriend, and beats The Man at his own hustle.
ref: 2001 September 23, “Super Fly”, in Vibe, volume 9, number 9, page 252:
text: A fly sister rolled in with a suitcase full of hip-hop novels called The Glamorous Life, and an African brother with long dreads wanted to sell them some incense and some fake Jacob watches.
ref: 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 169:
text: How NOT to Facebook / […] no naked pictures, no deep emotions (awkward), no tagging a bunch of people in a picture of some fly Nikes, no making dinner plans (just use a PHONE).
ref: 2012, Lindy West, Dan Savage, Christopher Frizzelle, How to Be a Person: The Stranger's Guide to College, Sex, Intoxicants, Tacos, and Life Itself:
text: Harry [Styles] and Grimmy had struck up quite a friendship with Rita [Ora] and a few weeks earlier had been seen at G-A-Y for her album launch. She tweeted a picture of the trio saying: ‘Thanks for coming my little fashionistas. Looking flyer than a mofo.’
ref: 2013, Louisa Jepson, “‘At the moment it appears I have, like 7000 girlfriends’”, in Harry Styles: Every Piece of Me, London: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, published 2014, →ISBN, page 209:
text: I'm so fly, I don't even try / I get so high, I can touch the sky / Dress for myself, I don't dress for hype / I dress for myself, you dress for the likes
ref: 2019, “Balenciaga”, performed by Princess Nokia:
glosses: Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.
examples: text: [Rahiem] My name brings peace and tranquility / So all the fly ladies' hearts can run free
ref: 1979, “We Rap More Mellow”, performed by The Younger Generation:
text: Word is bond she looked divine, she looked as fly as can be
I thought she was different cause she was by herself
She looked real wholesome, and in good physical health
ref: 1991, “Busy Doin Nuthin”, in I Need a Haircut, performed by Biz Markie:
text: I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners
ref: 1994, “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)”, in Illmatic, performed by Nas:
glosses: Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.
Derived terms: flycop
flyness