to fly solo

14 4.8

To act or work alone without help from others

phrasal verb

Informal

: ir por libre

After years of teamwork, he decided to fly solo and start his own business.
first person to fly solo

Or you could fly solo to New York to David Mallet Salon and get a haircut by Vincent and come back all by yourself.

Examples

And if you decide to fly solo, godspeed.
As school librarians, we often fly solo in our buildings.

Academic text (2012)
If you want to fly solo, you want to leave the group.
It's about you not flying solo anymore.

The Grace Card (2011)
Are you flying solo tonight?

Road Hard (2015)
Hey, we're flying solo on this one, so let's stay on point.

Only the Brave (2017)
You prefer to fly solo.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019)
I'll fly solo.

Ride Along 2 (2016)
I'm flying solo tonight.

Uncle Buck (1989)
Or you could fly solo to New York to David Mallet Salon and get a haircut by Vincent and come back all by yourself.

I've Had It

Synonyms

to go it alone

vsto fly solo

Informal

26 5.3

To do something without help from other people

is the broad term for working or acting independently without assistance

off one's own bat

vsto fly solo

8.6

To do something without being asked or helped

is used for independent action but not necessarily unprompted

to lone it

vsto fly solo

9.9

To do something alone without help

is the neutral phrase for independent action used in any register

Antonyms

to rely on

602 1.0

Trust a person or thing to do what you expect

to team up

95 2.5

Join with other people or groups to work together on a goal

How Independent

to strike out

11 4.1

to fly solo

Informal

14 4.8

to go it alone

Informal

26 5.3

Surface Forms

fly solo infinitive

flying solo present participle

flies solo third person singular

flew solo past

flown solo past participle

Morphology

fly + solo

The meaning is directly derivable from 'fly' (to operate/pilot) combined with 'solo' (alone): together they convey 'to operate or act alone,' which a B1 learner who knows both words can infer. This is a straightforward compositional pattern (verb + adverbial 'alone') common across languages, so it is predictable rather than idiomatic.

Etymology

Fly solo may come from the simple picture of a pilot or a bird that flies solo, leaving the group and going on its own. That's why the phrase means 'to do something without help' or 'to work on your own'.