flyover

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UK/ˈflaɪˌəʊvə/US/ˈflaɪˌoʊvɚ/

noun

A low-level flight, especially of military aircraft, of a ceremonial nature; a flypast (British).

UncommonScrabble 16

Meanings

nounflyover (plural flyovers)

plural flyovers · alternative fly-over

  1. USA low-level flight, especially of military aircraft, of a ceremonial nature; a flypast (British).
    1 more example

    Look closely at the commemorative flight suit patch for Super Bowl LX and you’ll notice what appears to be an anomaly: while the military aircraft flyover on Sunday is set to include Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers and F-15C Eagle fighters alongside Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35C Lightning fighters, the patch includes silhouettes of another advanced fighter jet: the Air Force F-22 Raptor. […] “These flyovers serve as time-over-target training for our crews,” she said.

    2026 February 6, Hope Hodge Seck, “F-22s pulled from Super Bowl flyover due to operations, planner says”, in Military Times, archived from the original on 08 Feb 2026
  2. CommonwealthIrelandPhilippinesUKA road or railway that passes over another, allowing routes to cross without interruption.

    As our train to Paris dashed through the labyrynthine flyovers at Porchefontaine, barely a mile from Versailles, the 75 m.p.h. limit was already almost attained.

    1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 670
    2 more examples

    They form part of the vast electrification and reconstruction schemes which have been in hand for a number of years at Liverpool Street, and in suburban Essex, and include the rearrangement of tracks, of which the Ilford flyover forms part; the modern signal boxes, now needed only at key points; the electric control or sub-stations; and a large electric car shed.

    1951 January, R. A. H. Weight, “A Railway Recorder in Essex and Hertfordshire”, in Railway Magazine, page 44

    The sales of toy motor-cars were enormous, and not only are there cars, there are all the accessories to go with them. In 1960 there were road sections with flyovers and banked corners on which sports and saloons could whizz along at a speed of 250 m.p.h, which apparently was a real speed of from six to seven miles per hour.

    1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 89

    Synonyms: overpass · Antonyms: underpass, flyunder

  3. USA high-level overpass built above main overpass lanes.
  4. USattributiveinformalMiddle America, noncoastal America.

    If Democrats end up flipping state houses in places Trump won in 2016, they will have proved themselves capable of winning in the places coastal elites derisively refer to as “flyover America.”

    2018 October 30, Rahm Emanuel, “The Biggest Story of the Midterms Is One the Democrats Aren’t Telling”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 02 Nov 2018
    1 more example

    Boom Town may not be a definitive text—save that for the historians—but it’s a significant update, one that exchanges the dusty pop-cultural clichés of a “flyover” city for the spark of a sincerely enlightening place.

    2018 September 26, Carson Vaughan, “'Boom Town' Explodes the Notion of ‘Flyover’ Territory”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2018

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA road or railway that passes over another, allowing routes to cross without interruption.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nounbridge formed by the upper level of a crossing of two highways at different levels

Similar
Broader

nouna flight at a low altitude (usually of military aircraft) over spectators on the ground

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Bulgarian надлез
  • надлез (nadlez)road or railway
Czech nadjezd, viadukt
  • nadjezdroad or railway
  • viaduktroad or railway
Dutch fly-over
  • fly-overroad or railway
Finnish ylilento, ylikulku
  • ylilentolow-level flight
  • ylikulkuroad or railway
German Tiefflug, Überführung
  • Tieffluglow-level flight
  • Überführungroad or railway
  • Straßenüberführungroad or railway
  • Eisenbahnüberführungroad or railway
Greek ανισόπεδη διάβαση
  • ανισόπεδη διάβαση (anisópedi diávasi)road or railway
Hindi उपरिगामी सेतु
  • उपरिगामी सेतु (uprigāmī setu)road or railway
Indonesian jalan layang
  • jalan layangroad or railway
Italian cavalcavia, viadotto
  • cavalcaviaroad or railway
  • viadottoroad or railway
Malay jejambat
  • jejambatroad or railway
Polish niski lot, wiadukt
  • niski lotlow-level flight
  • wiaduktroad or railway
Portuguese viaduto
  • viadutoroad or railway
Russian эстака́да, виаду́к
  • эстака́да (estakáda)road or railway
  • виаду́к (viadúk)road or railway
Swedish viadukt, vägbro
  • viaduktroad or railway
  • vägbroroad or railway

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

flyover. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flyover

MLA

“flyover.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flyover. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flyover,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flyover.

Source: flyover on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.