⏳ To pass quickly ✈️ To pass overhead

to fly by

23 3.3

To seem to pass very quickly, especially time

phrasal verb
/flaɪ baɪ/

: pasar volando

As the deadline approached, the days began to fly by faster than I expected.
Time flew by
Years flew by
Days flew by

Time would be mindlessly allowed to fly by and be frittered away.

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Examples

This year is just flying by, you know?

Foreign Exchange (2008)
I work at a busy medical laboratory, so the day flew by quickly.

Fiction book (2000)
'The time would just fly by when I was doing a picture.

Another Woman (1988)
The rest of the school year seemed to fly by, with only a few very important events to mark it.

Fiction book (1990)
I often hear older people say life will start to fly by at this point.

Blog text (22)
Sorry, time is flying by, but that is an issue for my Congress and for your parliament.
And then things got so fun that time just flew by very quickly.
And the years simply flew by.

A Minecraft Movie (2025)
As the weeks flew by, she did her best to convince herself she was all right.

Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont (2005)
Paxton felt as though the days were flying by, and she and Peter kept talking about their plans after graduation.

Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

to go by

vsto fly by

268 1.0

For time to pass

is specifically perceived as very quick rather than general passing

to slip away

vsto fly by

32 3.0

For time to pass without anyone noticing

is felt as rapid passing rather than gradual slipping away

to elapse

vsto fly by

19 5.1

Time passes without being noticed

is experienced as very quick rather than merely unnoticed passage

to slip by

vsto fly by

11 3.8

To go past quickly without anyone noticing, as with time or chances

is about the general rapid passing of time rather than missed chances

to zip by

vsto fly by

Informal

3 3.6

To pass very quickly, as when a car goes by or time moves fast

is perceived as time passing very quickly rather than physical motion

to slide by

vsto fly by

2 4.2

Time passes smoothly without you noticing

is experienced as very quick rather than mainly smooth and unnoticed

to whisk by

vsto fly by

1 5.1

Move past someone or something very quickly and smoothly

is felt as time flying by rather than only a sudden movement

to lapse

vsto fly by

1 4.0

To pass, as time between events

is felt as very quick rather than just a simple passing

to glide by

vsto fly by

1 3.9

Time that passes quickly without you noticing

is experienced as very quick rather than simply smooth

to whizz along

vsto fly by

1 5.1

To move very fast, often making a soft rushing sound like a car or train

describes time seeming to pass very quickly rather than noisy travel

Antonyms

to drag on

42 3.9

To continue longer than needed and become boring

How Fast

flash

57 3.9

to fly by

23 3.3

to pass by

165 1.2

to drag on

42 3.9

Surface Forms

fly by infinitive

flying by present participle

flies by third person singular

flew by past

flown by past participle

Morphology

fly + by

The meaning 'to seem to pass very quickly' is directly derivable from combining 'fly' (to move/occur quickly) with 'by' (past or passing alongside); together they convey the motion/passing metaphor applied to time or events. This motion-as-passing metaphor is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard English verb + particle pattern, so an average B1 learner who knows the parts would likely infer the meaning.

Etymology

One popular idea is that the phrase fly by for time comes from that same image of something quickly passing in the sky. Because fly shows speed and by shows passing, people say time 'flies by' to mean 'to seem to pass very quickly'.