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fluent

 - 3 dictionary results

flu⋅ent

  [floo-uhnt]
–adjective
1. spoken or written with ease: fluent French.
2. able to speak or write smoothly, easily, or readily: a fluent speaker; fluent in six languages.
3. easy; graceful: fluent motion; fluent curves.
4. flowing, as a stream.
5. capable of flowing; fluid, as liquids or gases.
6. easily changed or adapted; pliant.
Use fluent in a Sentence
Origin:
1580–90; < L fluent- (s. of fluēns) flowing, prp. of fluere; see -ent

Related forms:
flu⋅en⋅cy, flu⋅ent⋅ness, noun
flu⋅ent⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1, 2. Fluent, glib, voluble may refer to a flow of words. Fluent suggests the easy and ready flow of an accomplished speaker and is usually a term of commendation: a fluent and interesting speech. Glib implies an excessive fluency divorced from sincerity or profundity; it often suggests talking smoothly and hurriedly to cover up or deceive, not giving the hearer a chance to stop and think; it may also imply a plausible, prepared, and well-rehearsed lie: He had a glib answer for everything. Voluble implies the overcopious and often rapid flow of words characteristic of a person who loves to talk: She overwhelmed him with her voluble answer. See also eloquent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To fluent
flu·ent   (flōō'ənt)   
adj.  

    1. Able to express oneself readily and effortlessly: a fluent speaker; fluent in three languages.

    2. Flowing effortlessly; polished: speaks fluent Russian; gave a fluent performance of the sonata.

  2. Flowing or moving smoothly; graceful: a yacht with long, fluent curves.

  3. Flowing or capable of flowing; fluid.


[Latin fluēns, fluent-, present participle of fluere, to flow; see bhleu- in Indo-European roots.]
flu'en·cy n., flu'ent·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

fluent 
1589, from L. fluentem (nom. fluens), prp. of fluere "to flow," from PIE *bhleug- (cf. L. flumen "river;" Gk. phluein "to boil over, bubble up," phlein "to abound"), from *bhleu- "to swell, well up, overthrow," extension of root *bhel- "to blow, swell" (see bole). Used interchangeably with fluid in Elizabethan times.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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