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.
One woman who found one of the free-floating hydrozoans on Tenby South beach said it was "like a crystal".
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
The Nasdaq-100 will now allow so-called low-float companies into the index, for example, but cap their weight by valuing a company at three times the value of its free-floating shares.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Unlike free-floating VSV particles, Migrions represent a distinct form of viral transport created from both viral and cellular components.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 5, 2026
"No doubt a State possesses legitimate power to protect children from harm, but that does not include a free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed," Pitman wrote.
From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025
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.
