as in speck
a very small piece
surreptitiously removed a flyspeck of dirt from the china
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Recent Examples of flyspeck
That’s a flyspeck in a galaxy that measures 100,000 light years across and a universe that is a staggering 94 billion light years.
—
Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 21 Dec. 2022
Travelers jumping into the West Texas badlands from Mexico through Candelaria, a flyspeck village 50 miles up two-lane blacktop northwest of Presidio, might be deceived by the prevailing verdant quiet.
—Dudley Althaus, San Antonio Express-News, 26 June 2021
But with a thousand islands scattered along their country’s jade-green Adriatic coast, from deserted flyspecks to hipster outposts, there’s no shortage of places to lick one’s wounds—or bask in silver-medal glory.
—Anja Mutić, WSJ, 19 July 2018
Compared to this, Comcast is a flyspeck, and Charter hasn’t even gotten started.
—David Dayen, The New Republic, 30 Apr. 2018
Amid these forces, Fed rate hikes are a relative flyspeck, says Doug Duncan, chief economist of Fannie Mae.
—Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 14 June 2017
Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 21 Dec. 2022
Travelers jumping into the West Texas badlands from Mexico through Candelaria, a flyspeck village 50 miles up two-lane blacktop northwest of Presidio, might be deceived by the prevailing verdant quiet.
—Dudley Althaus, San Antonio Express-News, 26 June 2021
But with a thousand islands scattered along their country’s jade-green Adriatic coast, from deserted flyspecks to hipster outposts, there’s no shortage of places to lick one’s wounds—or bask in silver-medal glory.
—Anja Mutić, WSJ, 19 July 2018
Compared to this, Comcast is a flyspeck, and Charter hasn’t even gotten started.
—David Dayen, The New Republic, 30 Apr. 2018
Amid these forces, Fed rate hikes are a relative flyspeck, says Doug Duncan, chief economist of Fannie Mae.
—Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 14 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flyspeck
Noun
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Here indeed was a dense speck of wilderness under preserve.—
John Bowe,
Travel + Leisure,
1 Feb. 2026
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According to the National Weather Service, when a water droplet in a freezing atmosphere comes into contact with a nucleus, like a speck of dust or pollen, an ice crystal is formed.—
Ray Petelin,
CBS News,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Editors could immediately tell that this wasn't your typical tortilla chip, noting the pale color and dark flecks of chia seed.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
30 Jan. 2026
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But right now, nearly every fleck of AI folly that’s risen to the top has been utter dreck.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The numbers have been slowly ticking up for over a year – a rare bit of good news for a government that has spent billions of dollars for more than a decade encouraging people to do just that.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
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What & Why Rhode Island digs into this curious bit of beach trivia.—
Kathleen Hill,
The Providence Journal,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
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With fewer large particles to scatter light indiscriminately, the colors that reach your eyes can appear richer.—
Daisy Dobrijevic,
Space.com,
11 Feb. 2026
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Our skies will turn hazy with all the dust particles in the air.—
Nicole Villalpando,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The mobsters turned the van around, pulled off the highway and dumped Gasso in a patch of poison ivy along the Connecticut River in Wethersfield.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
12 Feb. 2026
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The concierge can also help with setting up activities like dog sledding, fishing, whale-watching, and fishing (or even just recommend hiking trails to blueberry patches on the property).—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Researchers around the world are now finding microplastics – tiny plastic fragments and fibers smaller than a grain of rice – in garden soils and compost products that look perfectly normal to the naked eye.—
Dr. Avishesh Neupane,
Hartford Courant,
7 Feb. 2026
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Dip your cloth in the water mixture and lightly wipe at the stain, going against the grain if your cabinets are made from wood.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Cut with a floured 2 3/4- to 3-inch round or square cutter; re-form scraps as necessary to make six biscuits.—
Holly Riordan,
Better Homes & Gardens,
11 Feb. 2026
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The Italian, now a free agent, is the favourite to be named as the next permanent Tottenham boss according to Betfair, as the team gear up for a relegation scrap over the final months of the season.—
Peter South,
New York Times,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Davidson’s chat with Kelly has no structure, no segments, and no particular gimmick; and while none of that is required of a podcast, some sense of organization can help shape an otherwise-unformed snippet of conversation.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
7 Feb. 2026
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The Hoenikker character, who abandons his car in a traffic jam one day and walks the rest of the way to work, and well, here's a snippet from the audio version of Cat's Cradle, told from the point of view of one of Hoenikker’s/Langmuir’s children.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flyspeck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flyspeck. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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