fly-by-night

[flahy-bahy-nahyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fly-by-night ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not reliable or responsible, especially in business; untrustworthy: a fly-by-night operation.

not lasting; brief; impermanent; transitory: a fly-by-night theater.

noun Also fly-by-night·er.

a person or thing that is unreliable, especially a debtor who evades or attempts to evade creditors.

a person regarded as a poor credit risk.

Origin of fly-by-night

First recorded in 1790–1800

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fly-by-night

ephemeral, passing, temporary, brief, cowboy, disreputable, dubious, evanescent, fleeting, impermanent, irresponsible, momentary, questionable, shady, shifty, short-lived, slimy, slippery, treacherous, undependable

Examples from the Web for fly-by-night

Contemporary Examples of fly-by-night

Some of the groups have been around for decades, others are fly-by-night.
Welcome to Assadville, USA
Christopher Moraff
November 11, 2014
And not fly-by-night issues either, but stalwarts such as G.E., Citi, Google.
Return of the Day Trader
Lee Eisenberg
April 9, 2009

Historical Examples of fly-by-night

She certainly has acted like a fly-by-night up to this time.
They of the High Trails
Hamlin Garland
He'll be out with a fly-by-night troupe afore the next month.
Watch Yourself Go By
Al. G. Field
Shown up in our newspapers as a ditch-digger—a fly-by-night—a nobody!
The Landloper
Holman Day
Had the wind been directly astern, the course of the Fly-by-Night would have been smoother.
Janice Day
Helen Beecher Long
Torched on by that fly-by-night who'll be getting out of town and who'll be forgotten inside a week.
When Egypt Went Broke
Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for fly-by-night

fly-by-night

adjective

unreliable or untrustworthy, esp in finance

brief; impermanent

noun Also: fly-by-nighter

an untrustworthy person, esp one who departs secretly or by night to avoid paying debts

a person who goes out at night to places of entertainment

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 fly-by-night

1796, slang, said to be an old term of reproach to a woman signifying that she was a witch; extended 1823 to "anyone who departs hastily from a recent activity," especially while owing money. The two senses involve the two verbs fly.

fly-by-night in Culture

fly-by-night

Shady or untrustworthy: “Before buying stock in a newly formed company, the prudent investor will check its owners' credentials to make sure it's not a fly-by-night operation.”