fast and loose

adverb

: in a reckless or irresponsible manner

played fast and loose with the public purse strings—

Paul Stuewe

: in a craftily deceitful way

manipulated evidence … and played fast and loose with the truth—

C. V. Woodward

Examples of fast and loose in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Lucifer plays extremely fast and loose with its Vertigo source material — the show merely adopts its premise of the Devil abandoning his job to run a nightclub and then runs off in its own direction. —

Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024 Both American Airlines' example of managing early boarders and Dunedin's request to keep the drop-off zone at its airport fast and loose come down to the etiquette of flying. —

Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024 As concept albums go, Eternal Atake plays it pretty fast and loose, but that’s the Lil Uzi Vert way. —

Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024 Collectively, everyone played it fast and loose, sweating it out as proud stalwarts of the midday block. —

Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 3 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for fast and loose

Word History

First Known Use

1557, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of fast and loose was in 1557

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Fast and loose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fast%20and%20loose. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

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