Standard Lemma guide

flyspeck

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Housefly excrement, visible as a minuscule black dot.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The wall of the kitchen above the fruitbowl was dotted with flyspeck.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Anything tiny or insignificant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Examples

  • From the foothills below, Jean, Jan, and James were mere flyspecks, easily lost among the straggly pines that formed the treeline.
  • We passed through some flyspeck town, barely more than a gas station and a stoplight, but I never saw the name.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: atom, whiff, ace, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, bit, crumb, glimpse, dab, damn, dash, diddly, glint, dot, spatter, drop, dusting, fleck, glimmer, hint, flip, flyspeck, grain, halfpennyworth, inch, iota, jot, lick, mite, modicum, molecule, morceau, morsel, mote, ooch, ounce, particle, pennyworth, piece, pinch, relish, scantling, semblance, scent, scintilla, scooch, scrap, scruple, shred, skerrick, skoosh, skosh, sliver, smattering, smidge, smidgen, smidget, smidgy, smitch, smithereen, soupçon, spark, speck, speckle, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, tad, tidbit, tidge, tinge, tittle, toddick, touch, trace, trifle, tuppence worth, vestige, whit, bagatelle, bag of shells, bric-a-brac, dicky, dicky-bird, fico, fig, flamfew, minuity, niff-naff, picayune, scuddick, sop, ticky-tack, toy, trick, triviality, whiffle, white chip

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To bespeckle with tiny spatters of color.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To inspect in minute detail to ensure that something contains no flaws; nitpick.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

very small

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • diminutive in stature
  • a lilliputian chest of drawers
  • her petite figure
  • tiny feet
  • the flyspeck nation of Bahrain moved toward democracy

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bantam, diminutive, lilliputian, midget, petite, tiny

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a tiny dark speck made by the excrement of a fly

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: atom, molecule, particle, corpuscle, mote, speck

History

Etymology

From fly + speck.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Fliegendreck — housefly excrement
  • German: Fliegenscheiße — housefly excrement
  • Polish: odchody muchy — housefly excrement
  • Swedish: flugskit — housefly excrement
  • Swedish: fluglort — housefly excrement
  • German: Fliegendreck — anything tiny or insignificant
  • German: Fliegenscheiße — anything tiny or insignificant
  • Polish: betka — anything tiny or insignificant
  • Swedish: flugskit — anything tiny or insignificant
  • Swedish: fluglort — anything tiny or insignificant