dustmote
Tiny airborne fleck
A dustmote is a tiny particle of dust, especially one visible floating in a beam of light.
The word evokes the small, drifting specks that become visible when sunlight streams through a window into a dim room.
It appears most often in literary or poetic contexts to suggest something minute or ephemeral: Dustmotes danced in the shaft of afternoon light.
Buoyant object or vehicle
- waftDrift on air
- hoverRemain suspended midair
- glideMove with effortless continuity
- driftGradual movement, no direction
suspend · swirl · dance · settle · alight · descend · scatter · disperse
Minute visible particle
- grainCereal plant's harvest unit
- fleckMinute spot or particle
- bitSmall amount or portion
- fragmentIncomplete portion of whole
microscopic · particulate · debris · detritus · fibre · filament · residue · sediment
Extremely small in size
- minusculeExtremely small in size
- infinitesimalQuantity approaching zero
- minuteSixtieth of an hour
- microscopicToo small for eyes
imperceptible · negligible · trivial · fleeting · ephemeral · transient · overlooked · unnoticed
float
Buoyant object or vehicle
drift · suspend · swirl · dance · settle · alight · descend · scatter · disperse · eddy
speck
Minute visible particle
fragment · microscopic · particulate · debris · detritus · fibre · filament · residue · sediment · airborne
tiny
Extremely small in size
- minusculeExtremely small in size
- infinitesimalQuantity approaching zero
- minuteSixtieth of an hour
microscopic · imperceptible · negligible · trivial · fleeting · ephemeral · transient · overlooked · unnoticed · forgotten
shaft
Narrow vertical passage
light · illuminated · visible · glint · sparkle · shimmer · glitter · golden · afternoon · window
sneeze
Explosive nasal reflex
tickle · cough · itchy · trigger · sensitivity · stuffy · musty · stale · aggravate