Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

flurried

[flur-eed, fluhr-]
See more synonyms for flurried on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. marked by confusion or agitation.
Show More

Origin of flurried

flurry + -ed2
Related formsun·flur·ried, adjective

flurry

[flur-ee, fluhr-ee]
noun, plural flur·ries.
  1. a light, brief shower of snow.
  2. sudden commotion, excitement, or confusion; nervous hurry: There was a flurry of activity before the guests arrived.
  3. Stock Exchange.
    1. a brief rise or fall in prices.
    2. a brief, unusually heavy period of trading.
  4. a sudden gust of wind.
Show More
verb (used with object), flur·ried, flur·ry·ing.
  1. to put (a person) into a flurry; confuse; fluster.
Show More
verb (used without object), flur·ried, flur·ry·ing.
  1. (of snow) to fall or be blown in a flurry.
  2. to move in an excited or agitated manner.
Show More

Origin of flurry

1680–90, Americanism; blend of flutter and hurry
Related formsflur·ried·ly, adverb

Synonyms

See more synonyms for flurry on Thesaurus.com
2. upset, pother, stir, to-do, fuss, fluster, ado.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for flurried

Historical Examples

  • Let me impart my confidence to you, you flurried little thing, in my own way.

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens

  • It was remarkable how pale and flurried he had become in an instant.

  • Neither was she overawed or flurried when her callers entered.

    Cap'n Dan's Daughter

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • "No, I don't," answered she in a flurried way, blushing to the roots of her hair.

  • Indeed, his flurried manner as he resumed the letter proved it.

    Roland Cashel

    Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for flurried

flurry

noun plural -ries
  1. a sudden commotion or burst of activity
  2. a light gust of wind or rain or fall of snow
  3. stock exchange a sudden brief increase in trading or fluctuation in stock prices
  4. the death spasms of a harpooned whale
Show More
verb -ries, -rying or -ried
  1. to confuse or bewilder or be confused or bewildered
Show More

Word Origin

C17: from obsolete flurr to scatter, perhaps formed on analogy with hurry
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for flurried

flurry

v.

1757 in the commotion sense, from flurry (n.); 1883 in the snow sense. Related: Flurried; flurries; flurrying.

Show More

flurry

n.

"snow squall" 1828, American English, with earlier senses of "commotion," etc., dating to 1680s; perhaps imitative, or else from 17c. flurr "to scatter, fly with a whirring noise," perhaps from Middle English flouren "to sprinkle, as with flour" (late 14c.).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper