flurry

flurried; flurries; flurrying

A light blowing swirl of snow that's just barely falling is a flurry. There might be a brief flurry or two at the beginning of the winter, with no real heavy snow until January.

You can describe a snow flurry, or a similarly swirling flurry of leaves or papers. When people act this way, rushing and fussing around, that's another kind of flurry. There might, for example, be a flurry of activity in the morning at your house as everyone hurries to get ready for the day. This sense of flurry is actually about a hundred years older than the snow meaning, which was first used in mid-1800's American English.

Definitions of flurry
  1. noun
    a light brief snowfall and gust of wind (or something resembling that)
    “he had to close the window against the flurries”
    “there was a flurry of chicken feathers”
    synonyms: snow flurry
    see moresee less
    type of:
    snow, snowfall
    precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
  2. noun
    a rapid active commotion
    synonyms: ado, bustle, fuss, hustle, stir
    see moresee less
    type of:
    commotion, din, ruckus, ruction, rumpus, tumult
    the act of making a noisy disturbance
  3. noun
    an overwhelming number or amount
    synonyms: barrage, deluge, flood, inundation, torrent
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    type of:
    batch, deal, flock, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mess, mickle, mint, mountain, muckle, passel, peck, pile, plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, sight, slew, spate, stack, tidy sum, wad
    (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
  4. verb
    move in an agitated or confused manner
    see moresee less
    type of:
    move
    move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion
  5. verb
    cause to feel embarrassment
    synonyms: confuse, disconcert, put off
    bedevil, befuddle, confound, confuse, discombobulate, fox, fuddle, throw
    be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
    see moresee less
    types:
    show 4 types...
    hide 4 types...
    fluster
    cause to be nervous or upset
    bother
    make confused or perplexed or puzzled
    deflect, distract
    draw someone's attention away from something
    ruffle
    discompose
    type of:
    abash, embarrass
    cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘flurry'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family

Vocabulary lists containing flurry

Operation Sisterhood
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

When eleven-year-old Tokunbo Marshall moves with her mother into a Harlem brownstone, she must adjust to an extended family that includes three new sisters who see everything in life as a possible project in their self-designed education.

Dress Coded
Carrie Firestone

Eighth-grader Molly is fed up with her school's unfair dress code policy, so she starts a podcast to protest it, sparking a rebellion.

Rickshaw Girl
Mitali Perkins

In a small Bangladeshi village where only boys are expected to earn money, ten-year-old Naimi disguises herself as a boy so she can get a job to help her struggling family.

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