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fadeaway

American  
[fayd-uh-way] / 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.


Etymology

Origin of fadeaway

1905–10, noun use of verb phrase fade away


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

Among her impressive moves, Sienna followed an offensive rebound with a step-back fadeaway jumper, drove the baseline for a layup and also took a pass over the top of the defense for a layup.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025

Felix dribbled across the baseline, stopped just below the basket, and shot a fadeaway.

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty

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