Antonyms for fly-by-night


Grammar : Adj
Spell : flahy-bahy-nahyt
Phonetic Transcription : ˈflaɪ baɪˌnaɪt


Definition of fly-by-night

Origin :
  • 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.
  • adj unreliable and shady
Example sentences :
  • She certainly has acted like a fly-by-night up to this time.
  • Extract from : « They of the High Trails » by Hamlin Garland
  • He'll be out with a fly-by-night troupe afore the next month.
  • Extract from : « Watch Yourself Go By » by Al. G. Field
  • Shown up in our newspapers as a ditch-digger—a fly-by-night—a nobody!
  • Extract from : « The Landloper » by Holman Day
  • Had the wind been directly astern, the course of the Fly-by-Night would have been smoother.
  • Extract from : « Janice Day » by 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.
  • Extract from : « When Egypt Went Broke » by Holman Day
  • What gets me is, when you boil our two fly-by-night stories down, I've come here to be alone.
  • Extract from : « Seven Keys to Baldpate » by Earl Derr Biggers
  • Does any one figger I'll allow some fly-by-night charl'tan to go reeflectin' on me?
  • Extract from : « Faro Nell and Her Friends » by Alfred Henry Lewis
  • She now knew where she was, but was nearly dying from the exhaustion of his fly-by-night expeditions.
  • Extract from : « Crooked Trails » by Frederic Remington
  • Throughout the country local managers began to steal the Madison Square plays and put them on with "fly-by-night" companies.
  • Extract from : « Charles Frohman: Manager and Man » by Isaac Frederick Marcosson and Daniel Frohman
  • You love me, an actress in a fly-by-night company, a variety artist at the Gayety!
  • Extract from : « Beth Norvell » by Randall Parrish

Synonyms for fly-by-night

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019