free-floating

adjective

free-float·​ing ˈfrē-ˈflō-tiŋ How to pronounce free-floating (audio)
1
a
: floating freely
free-floating vegetation
b
: lacking specific attachment, direction, or purpose
free-floating ideas
2
: felt as an emotion without apparent cause
free-floating anxiety

Examples of free-floating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
While major currencies like the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen have a free-floating exchange rate, China tightly regulates the value of the yuan within its domestic market. Lee Ying Shan,asriel Chua, CNBC, 11 Apr. 2025 But instead of tackling the matter at hand, almost every scene is weighed down by a free-floating and at times annoyingly intrusive indie-film attitude. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 5 Apr. 2025 Astronomers, who sometimes like to kill fun, call these worlds free-floating planets, which is not nearly as cool a term. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2025 The researchers observed that Knot E could likely be a free-floating evaporating gas globule with a dense cometary-like structure, which requires further investigation. Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 24 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for free-floating

Word History

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of free-floating was in 1815

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Cite this Entry

“Free-floating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free-floating. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

Medical Definition

free-floating

adjective
free-float·​ing ˈfrē-ˈflōt-iŋ How to pronounce free-floating (audio)
: felt as an emotion without apparent cause
free-floating anxiety

More from Merriam-Webster on free-floating

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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