fly like a rock

verb

to travel through the air with little or no benefit from aerodynamic lift

“If the wings aren't big enough, your paper airplane will fly like a rock.”

Opposite
fly like a bird
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Meanings

verbfly like a rock (third-person singular simple present flies like a rock, present participle flying like a rock, simple past flew like a rock, past participle flown like a rock)

present singular third person flies like a rock · participle present flying like a rock · past flew like a rock · participle past flown like a rock

  1. sarcasticsometimessimileto travel through the air with little or no benefit from aerodynamic lift

    If the wings aren't big enough, your paper airplane will fly like a rock.

    1 more example

    When students have compared the wing areas and weights by squaring and cubing the linear ratios, they correctly predict the large one will fly "like a rock"...

    1970, American Association of Physics Teachers, The Physics Teacher, volumes 8–9, page 541

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
fly like a bird
Cite this entry
APA

fly like a rock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20like%20a%20rock

MLA

“fly like a rock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20like%20a%20rock. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fly like a rock,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fly%20like%20a%20rock.

Source: fly like a rock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.