verb / noun

flit

FLIT/flɪt/

A quick, light movement from place to place.

The butterfly flits lightly between two nearby wildflower stems.

A single small butterfly flits between two nearby wildflower stems, caught in light, quick flight with a few subtle pen motion strokes.

Etymology

Flytja referred to moving or carrying something from one place to another. In English, this general idea of movement narrowed to moving lightly and swiftly.

In context

Libranima542:21

many lights began to flit through the wood, just as those fiery exhalations from the earth, that look like shooting- stars to our eyes, flit through the heavens

Don Quixote - Cervantes (Illustrated Audiobook) Part 3 of 4

More examples

She flits from table to table, greeting her guests.
With a quick flit, the butterfly lands on another flower.
His thoughts kept flitting from one idea to another.

Forms

flit · flits · flitted · flitting

Similar words

dart: Emphasizes sudden speed rather than lightness of movement.
flutter: Emphasizes rapid, delicate motions, often without changing location.