gnat
noun
ˈnat 
: any of various small usually biting dipteran flies
gnatty
ˈna-tē
adjective 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The seventh grader knocked down spot up shots behind the three-point line, weaved through traffic like her hair was on fire, and harassed the Bears on defense worse than a gnat at a barbecue. 
Jonathan Saxon, The Courier-Journal, 11 Dec. 2021 The virus that causes EHD is carried by a biting gnat known as a midge and is both contagious and fatal. Gabriela Miranda, USA TODAY, 28 Oct. 2021 Haugen essentially shrugged off this concern, equating the digression with a gnat trying to distract from the elephant in the room. Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2021 Bands that often had a gnat’s lifespan, with names such as Metelica, the Fabulous Frauleins, and Satan’s Breed. BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2021 As any entomologist would tell you, a gnat is one of many species of tiny, flying insects—biting and non-biting—in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, 23 July 2021 The composite image is made of seven frames that show the space station’s path across the sun, looking like a little gnat flying across an orange. Jonathan Vanian, Fortune, 30 June 2021 Squeezing so much energy into such a tiny object—a trillion times smaller than a speck of dust—far exceeds the capabilities of humankind’s accelerators, which, at their best, only manage to produce particles with about the energy of a flying gnat. Katrina Miller, Scientific American, 27 Apr. 2021 Schiap might have been seen as a gnat-like rival by Coco Chanel, but her approach to fashion was in line with that of her artist friends, especially Salvador Dalí, who included an ant on his 1944 cover for Vogue. Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2020 See More
Jonathan Saxon, The Courier-Journal, 11 Dec. 2021 The virus that causes EHD is carried by a biting gnat known as a midge and is both contagious and fatal. Gabriela Miranda, USA TODAY, 28 Oct. 2021 Haugen essentially shrugged off this concern, equating the digression with a gnat trying to distract from the elephant in the room. Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2021 Bands that often had a gnat’s lifespan, with names such as Metelica, the Fabulous Frauleins, and Satan’s Breed. BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2021 As any entomologist would tell you, a gnat is one of many species of tiny, flying insects—biting and non-biting—in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, 23 July 2021 The composite image is made of seven frames that show the space station’s path across the sun, looking like a little gnat flying across an orange. Jonathan Vanian, Fortune, 30 June 2021 Squeezing so much energy into such a tiny object—a trillion times smaller than a speck of dust—far exceeds the capabilities of humankind’s accelerators, which, at their best, only manage to produce particles with about the energy of a flying gnat. Katrina Miller, Scientific American, 27 Apr. 2021 Schiap might have been seen as a gnat-like rival by Coco Chanel, but her approach to fashion was in line with that of her artist friends, especially Salvador Dalí, who included an ant on his 1944 cover for Vogue. Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English gnætt; akin to Old English gnagan to gnaw
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing gnat
Kids Definition
gnat
noun
ˈnat
: a very small usually biting fly
Medical Definition
gnat
noun
ˈnat
: any of various small usually biting dipteran flies (as a midge or blackfly)