fadeaway

American  

[feyd-uh-wey] / ˈfeɪd əˌweɪ /

noun

1. an act or instance of fading away.

2. Baseball. screwball.

3. Baseball. a slide made by a base runner to one side of the base, with one leg bent and stretched back to catch hold of the base.

4. Basketball. a jump shot made while the player is falling away from the basket.

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Etymology

Origin of fadeaway

1905–10, noun use of verb phrase fade away

Example Sentences

Doncic hit daring fadeaway three-pointers, threw sky-high lobs to teammates and nailed a dramatic winning shot against the Nuggets at home to add cinematic highlights to his budding most valuable player case.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 22, 2026

From the opening tip, he rose up for 3-pointers, drove to the rim for dunks and leaned back for fadeaway jump shots.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

James, who already held the NBA all-time points record, sailed past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 15,837 field goals with a fadeaway jumper in the first quarter.

From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026

Doncic injured his ankle during the Lakers’ blowout loss to the Cavaliers on Wednesday night after falling off the side of Cleveland’s raised court while shooting a fadeaway three-pointer in the first quarter.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2026

But while Paul’s arms were as thick as my neck, I beat him off the dribble, and twice in a row I got a foot around him and nailed fadeaway jumpers Guzzo couldn’t block.

From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds