free-floating
Americanadjective
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(of an emotional state) lacking an apparent cause, focus, or object; generalized.
free-floating hostility.
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(of people) uncommitted, as to a doctrine, political party, etc.; independent.
free-floating opportunists.
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capable of relatively free movement.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of free-floating
First recorded in 1920–25
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.
Michelle Monaghan, always good, is also among the cast, as homicide detective Amanda Beck, though she lays low enough to duck all the free-floating ham in this adaptation of Alex North’s 2019 novel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Shear, with a resting face that seems halfway to panic attack, plays Sam, whose free-floating anxiety is enough to make him faint in public after getting laid off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
Almost 30,000 pieces of debris are calculated to be free-floating in space, created when rockets break up in space or satellites disintegrate.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
So far, only a small number of free-floating planets have been identified, but that number is expected to grow in the coming years.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2026
To accomplish this, they have their own genome, a tiny thing with fewer than fifty genes, left over from their former existence as free-floating bacteria.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
