free-floating

adjective

free-float·​ing ˈfrē-ˈflō-tiŋ How to pronounce free-floating (audio)
1
a
: floating freely
free-floating vegetation
b
: lacking specific attachment, direction, or purpose
free-floating ideas
2
: felt as an emotion without apparent cause
free-floating anxiety

Examples of free-floating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But instead of tackling the matter at hand, almost every scene is weighed down by a free-floating and at times annoyingly intrusive indie-film attitude. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 5 Apr. 2025 Astronomers, who sometimes like to kill fun, call these worlds free-floating planets, which is not nearly as cool a term. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2025 This strange world is free-floating, not bound to any star, and boasts a surface temperature of around 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 24 Mar. 2025 This time, after all, Trump ran not merely as an insurgent entertainer—an amorphous vessel for free-floating anomie—but as the scarred veteran of a decade-long ideological war, prosecuted and convicted by his enemies, his purposes hardened and sharpened by a thirst for political payback. Matthew Karp, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for free-floating

Word History

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of free-floating was in 1815

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Cite this Entry

“Free-floating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free-floating. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

Medical Definition

free-floating

adjective
free-float·​ing ˈfrē-ˈflōt-iŋ How to pronounce free-floating (audio)
: felt as an emotion without apparent cause
free-floating anxiety

More from Merriam-Webster on free-floating

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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