fluent

[ floo-uhnt ]
See synonyms for: fluentfluencyfluentlyfluentness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. spoken or written with ease: fluent French.

  2. able to speak or write smoothly, easily, or readily: a fluent speaker;fluent in six languages.

  1. easy; graceful: fluent motion;fluent curves.

  2. flowing, as a stream.

  3. capable of flowing; fluid, as liquids or gases.

  4. easily changed or adapted; pliant.

Origin of fluent

1
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin fluent- (stem of fluēns ) “flowing,” present participle of fluere; see -ent

synonym study For fluent

1, 2. Fluent, glib, voluble may refer to a flow of words. Fluent suggests the easy and ready flow of an accomplished speaker and is usually a term of commendation: a fluent and interesting speech. Glib implies an excessive fluency divorced from sincerity or profundity; it often suggests talking smoothly and hurriedly to cover up or deceive, not giving the hearer a chance to stop and think; it may also imply a plausible, prepared, and well-rehearsed lie: He had a glib answer for everything. Voluble implies the overcopious and often rapid flow of words characteristic of a person who loves to talk: She overwhelmed him with her voluble answer. See also eloquent.

Other words from fluent

  • flu·en·cy, flu·ent·ness, noun
  • flu·ent·ly, adverb
  • non·flu·en·cy, noun
  • non·flu·ent, adjective
  • non·flu·ent·ness, noun
  • o·ver·flu·en·cy, noun
  • o·ver·flu·ent, adjective
  • o·ver·flu·ent·ness, noun
  • trans·flu·ent, adjective
  • un·flu·ent, adjective

Words Nearby fluent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fluent in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fluent

fluent

/ (ˈfluːənt) /


adjective
  1. able to speak or write a specified foreign language with facility

  2. spoken or written with facility: his French is fluent

  1. easy and graceful in motion or shape

  2. flowing or able to flow freely

Origin of fluent

1
C16: from Latin: flowing, from fluere to flow

Derived forms of fluent

  • fluently, adverb

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