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

As Luka Doncic’s scoring total crept up with each step-back three, free throw or fadeaway shot, the cheers grew louder, coming from every corner from fans dressed in every color.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 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

Entering the fourth quarter with just six points, James hit a step-back fadeaway jumper with 6:51 to go that pushed him to 10.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2025

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

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty