flying
fly·ing/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
flying is spelled F-L-Y-I-N-G: 6 letters and 2 syllables (fly·ing). It appears 51 times per million words in written English, the 1,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, flying means “That flies or can fly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in flying?
| Letters | 6: F-L-Y-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: fly·ing |
| In writing | 51 times per million words; the 1,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is flying?
Flying appears 51 times per million words in written English, the 1,993rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce flying?
- /ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/
Flying has 2 syllables, split fly·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-flying.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of flying
- flyings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does flying mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
That flies or can fly.
flying fox
- 2
Brief or hurried.
flying visit
- 3
Capable of moving rapidly; highly mobile.
flying column
- 4
Not secured by yards.
- 5
Capable of foiling.
Flying ferries are the watercraft of the future!
- 6
Designating a cattle brand consisting of a letter extended on both sides with tilde-like curved lines.
- 7
Being able to glide through the air.
flying squirrel
noun
- 1
An act of flight.
- 2
The action or process of sustained motion through the air.
- 3
The action of sustained hydrodynamic lift on hydrofoils lifting the vessel hull lifted out of the water, for sustained motion across water.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of fly
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Flying in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense that can fly:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | volant, volante |
| German | fliegend |
| Portuguese | voador, voadora, voante |
| Spanish | volador, volante |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does flying come from?
From Middle English fleynge, fleeʒinge, flihinde, vlyinde, vleoinde, flyand, ffleghand, flighand (also fleoninde, fleonninde, etc.), from Old English flēogende, from Proto-Germanic *fleugandz (“flying”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”), equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Saterland Frisian fljoogend (“flying”), West Frisian fleanend (“flying”), Dutch vliegend (“flying”), German Low German flegend (“flying”), German fliegend (“flying”), Danish flyvende (“flying”), Swedish flygande (“flying”), Icelandic fljúgandi (“flying”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).