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To trifle with someone; to be unreliable and inconsistent. Several writers believe that this term, which dates from the sixteenth century, came from a cheating game called “fast and loose” that was played at fairs. A belt or strap was doubled and rolled up with the loop at the edge of a table.
Mar 9, 2024 · The meaning of FAST AND LOOSE is in a reckless or irresponsible manner. How to use fast and loose in a sentence.
to treat something or someone without enough care: Like many movie-makers, he plays fast and loose with the facts to tell his own version of the story. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Treating as unimportant. blow something/someone off. brush someone/something aside. chopped liver. damn. denigrate. denigration. laugh something off.
If you say that someone is playing fast and loose, you are expressing disapproval of them for behaving in a deceitful, immoral, or irresponsible way. [disapproval] There have been people who have played fast and loose with the rules. See full dictionary entry for fast. Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.
To play fast and loose means to lack regard for rules or to behave recklessly and immorally. For example, I recently urged a friend to resign from her job due to how fast and loose the company played with her contract. The expression has been in use since the 16th century as a way to highlight carelessness.
If someone plays fast and loose with something important, they treat it without care, respect or accuracy. The government is playing fast and loose with public spending. Several of the company's announcements have been exposed for playing fast and loose with the facts.
The meaning of PLAY FAST AND LOOSE is to behave in a clever and dishonest way —usually + with. How to use play fast and loose in a sentence.
Fast and loose. Also found in: Idioms, Wikipedia . now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose, to play fast and loose, to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another. See under Fast.
Fast-and-loose, a cheating game sometimes played at fairs by gipsies, and also called 'prick the garter'.
What does the phrase fast and loose mean? There are five meanings listed in OED's entry for the phrase fast and loose, one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. fast and loose has developed meanings and uses in subjects including. gambling (late 1500s) mechanics (1800s) See meaning & use.
