flowing
Americanadjective
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moving in or as in a stream.
flowing water.
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proceeding smoothly or easily; facile.
flowing language.
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long, smooth, graceful, and without sudden interruption or change of direction.
flowing lines; flowing gestures.
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hanging loosely at full length.
flowing hair.
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abounding; having in excess.
a land flowing with milk and honey.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flowing
before 950; Middle English flowynge, Old English flōwende. See flow, -ing 2
Explanation
Anything flowing moves like liquid, such as the flowing water of a river or someone’s long, flowing hair. Even a conversation can be flowing if people have a lot to say to each other. The adjective flowing is useful for describing things that drape gracefully, like Rapunzel's flowing hair or Cinderella's flowing gown. The sleek and streamlined movements of a ballet dancer might also be called flowing, and so can particularly graceful writing: "The poet's flowing lines beautifully evoked a summer afternoon." Flowing comes from flow, from a root meaning "to stream, melt, or become liquid."
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.
In industrial societies, by contrast, children represent a net cost, with resources flowing from parent to child.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
As of Tuesday morning, the substance was hovering between 90 and 92 degrees Fahrenheit and water was still flowing on it.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
Under a blazing sun in 40C heat, Rubio removed the tie from his navy-blue suit, put his arm around Jeanette, who wore a flowing dress with elegant heels.
From Barron's • May 25, 2026
"I like flowing between mediums," Salam says casually.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
All morning he’d felt like a pot on the stove, the water getting warmer and warmer, but when she said that, the pot boiled over, hot starchy anger flowing out of him.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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.
