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.
“When you’ve got competitive races, you’ve got a lot of money flowing into competitive races, and I think that perfect storm has helped enable a lot of new records to be shattered this election cycle.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026
The update approved Thursday sets rules for the Sacramento River and the rest of the Delta, where pumps operated by state and federal agencies send water flowing in aqueducts to farms and cities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
"So the reason that we have given £30m to Cardiff Parkway Rail Station yesterday is because we've done the work together to get the planning in place, so we can get that money flowing."
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
NASA's Juno spacecraft has uncovered remarkable new details about how Jupiter withstands the constant stream of high-energy particles flowing from the Sun.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
The poison tide might have stopped flowing, but traces of the toxic dust still remained.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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