Kytes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term referring to flying objects often used to describe light, tethered devices lifted by wind; alternatively, it can depict someone cheating or deceiving; also used as a plural of a type of bird or object resembling a kite
2. Refers to lightweight aerial apparatuses attached to strings and flown in the air; used figuratively for a person who swindles or tricks others; also the plural form of a word for flying birds or similar shapes
3. Describes objects designed to be flown in the sky by wind currents; employed metaphorically to label a cheat or fraud; and serves as the plural noun for particular airborne creatures or items akin to these devices

Etymology: "Kytes" is the plural of "kyte", a word for a kite, the lightweight frame and cloth flown on a string. The singular is the form the plural builds on, so the history belongs to "kyte" itself: the same object, the same flying toy, and the same slang sense of a person who swindles or tricks others, which grew out of the idea of something light and dangling that is hard to pin down.

Synonyms: kites