Dictionary

flitty en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈflɪti/
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From flit + -y.

Meanings

1. (archaic) unstable, fluttering.
2. (slang) Ostentatiously effeminate.
   • The other end of the bar was full of flits. They weren't too flitty-looking—I mean they didn't have their hair too long or anything—but you could tell they were flits anyway. 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, chapter 18, in The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 185:
   • In each scenario, the mother worries whether her flitty son (Garcia) will ever marry." 1999 December 24, Albert Williams, “Lean and Mean”, in Chicago Reader:
   • His once flitty warble has deepened into a quavery David Bowie/Iggy Pop croon, and it perfectly suits the new record's mix of quasi soul and somber guitar pop. 1995 September 8, Peter Margasak, “Edwyn Collins”, in Chicago Reader:
   • Some observers may be taken aback by Brooks's treatment of homosexuality: while the subject was only a side theme in the movie, here it's placed front and center in the character of Roger and his flitty "common-law assistant," Carmen Ghia. 2001 February 23, Albert Williams, “Springtime for Mel Brooks”, in Chicago Reader:

Forms

Deriveds

flittiness