1
as in darting
to make an irregular series of quick, sudden movements
a lonely butterfly fluttering across the lawn
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in flapping
to move or cause to move with a striking motion
fluttered my eyelashes as I struck up a conversation with the new guy at work
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fluttering
Keep your eyes open for Martial and Mallow scrub-hairstreaks, lyside sulphurs, malachites, and a variety of skippers fluttering among the blooms.
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Carrie Honaker, Travel + Leisure, 7 Dec. 2025
Anaheim took charge with a four-goal second period that featured a franchise-record 27 shots on Chicago's net, capped by Carlsson's 15th goal on a fluttering deflection for a 5-0 lead.
—CBS News, 7 Dec. 2025
Change Outdoor Lighting Spiders aren’t attracted to lighting, but they are attracted to the moths, flies, and other insects fluttering around it.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 4 Dec. 2025
Reagan's expression of glee was no doubt due to the fact that this encounter went markedly better than his first with a turkey, when the bird went wild on him, fluttering around madly until handlers could placate it.
—Alex Heigl, PEOPLE, 25 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fluttering
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fluttering
Verb
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The headlights of the long-haul trucks illuminated Joshua trees and darting bats.—
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During early warm-ups for the Broncos-Chargers game, Dobbins spent over 30 minutes catching up with former Los Angeles teammates and coaches, darting over to the stands to sign a few autographs.—
Verb
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The attention to detail both inside and out is notable, and even goes so far as to include an artificial breeze that keeps a US flag installation always flapping in the wind.—
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But those series understood how to trace the flapping-butterfly-wing effects of such brutal actions outward, to take the violence and pain of our collective past and connect them to what this country would eventually become.—
Verb
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At ease everywhere from flitting free jazz to looser, funkier textures, Allen abides, insistent but never overbearing on a session well worth the wait.—
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That Cody Balmer avowed the Palestinian cause in his call to 911, despite no prior connection to it, fits the general pattern, since that’s what was flitting across his screens.—
Verb
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Large crowds of onlookers were treated to a performance of boxing and dancing on the show floor.—
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The images show vivid auroras dancing overhead and a fox below who seems far more interested in the photographer than the light show unfolding above.—
Verb
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Older supporters will remember it well and, if anyone from the younger generation wants a glimpse into those times, perhaps a good place to start is by flicking through the pages of The Complete History Of Manchester City, written by football historian Gary James and published in 1997.—
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The reptile reacts to being picked up by flicking its meaty tail back and forth, whacking a few of the deputies.—
Cite this Entry
“Fluttering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fluttering. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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