flotilla
Americannoun
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flotillas
plural
-
a group of small naval vessels, especially a naval unit containing two or more squadrons.
-
a group moving together.
The governor was followed by a whole flotilla of reporters.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of flotilla
1705–15; < Spanish, diminutive of flota fleet < French flotte < Old English flota
Explanation
If you see a boy launch a flotilla of handmade sailboats on the far side of a pond, chances are his fleet of ships won't make it to your side of the pond. Flotilla is from the Spanish word flota, which means fleet. The word looks like the Spanish word tortilla but is not pronounced at all the same way, even though they are both from the same language. Flotilla is pronounced like the word "float" and the "-ill" part of the word "hill," then with "uh" on the end of the word.
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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:
About a month later, they pulled off their first small-group flotilla in the Spanish Virgin Islands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
I instead recall coasting past a flotilla of icebergs in Alaska’s Glacier Bay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
As a flotilla of tall ships glided by behind him, he asked Americans to "reject the two-dimensional view of your fellow citizens and reject the two-dimensional view of your country."
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
The move was announced shortly after four female activists, who were part of the Global Sumud flotilla in May, met with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and senior officials including police on Monday.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
With Nixonian cunning, Calliope unwrapped and flushed away a flotilla of unused Tampax.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
The country is not facing flotillas of small boats arriving from the North Sea or the Baltic.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025
This battle between Team USA and Europe at Bethpage Black is also a proxy war between rival flotillas of wonks and analysts who advise both teams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2025
There are no bald billionaires in super yachts or reality TV stars in flotillas of private jets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
A joint command center with officials from all four parties will be set up immediately in Istanbul to monitor every movement of the flotillas.
From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2022
It bore on its crest its gay flotillas of pleasure—and its drift of derelicts.
From The Portal of Dreams by Charles Neville Buck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
