1
: at or to a great height
measuring the winds aloft
2
: in the air
especially
: in flight (as in an airplane)
meals served aloft
3
: at, on, or to the masthead or the higher rigging
went aloft to unfurl the sails
: on top of : above
bright signs aloft hotels
Synonyms
Examples of aloft in a Sentence
Adverb
The balloon stayed aloft for days.
the ease with which he can hold a ballerina aloft with one hand is awesome
Recent Examples on the Web
Susan Tate Ankeny, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Apr. 2024
Instead, in the show, which opened on Thursday at the Park Avenue Armory, Stevens’s wistful and sometimes enigmatic numbers, set in various Illinois locations, are performed by three vocalists on platforms high above the action, wearing butterfly wings as if to stay aloft.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024
Some pockets of instability developed as the sun heated the ground and rose into colder air aloft.
—Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2024
Holding the bloody digit aloft, the Ghoul gives Lucy a look that almost connotes respect.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2024
The police set aloft an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, to gather information on the situation.
—John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2024
By Jeffrey Kluger February 12, 2024 12:10 PM EST
Not a lot of spacecraft have gone aloft with poetry etched on their sides.
—TIME, 12 Feb. 2024
Then, there’s the massive American flag, held aloft in Beyoncé’s left hand.
—Aj Willingham, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
In one of the memorable images from his administration, Trump in 2020 held a Bible aloft for a photo op outside St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, where many presidents have attended services.
—Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024
San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Oct. 2019
Adverb
Lee was such a good storyteller that Chang closed her eyes and felt the wind and the weightlessness and heard the engine and smelled the trees in the air aloft.
—Susan Tate Ankeny, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Apr. 2024
Instead, in the show, which opened on Thursday at the Park Avenue Armory, Stevens’s wistful and sometimes enigmatic numbers, set in various Illinois locations, are performed by three vocalists on platforms high above the action, wearing butterfly wings as if to stay aloft.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024
Some pockets of instability developed as the sun heated the ground and rose into colder air aloft.
—Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2024
Holding the bloody digit aloft, the Ghoul gives Lucy a look that almost connotes respect.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2024
The police set aloft an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, to gather information on the situation.
—John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2024
By Jeffrey Kluger February 12, 2024 12:10 PM EST
Not a lot of spacecraft have gone aloft with poetry etched on their sides.
—TIME, 12 Feb. 2024
Then, there’s the massive American flag, held aloft in Beyoncé’s left hand.
—Aj Willingham, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
In one of the memorable images from his administration, Trump in 2020 held a Bible aloft for a photo op outside St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, where many presidents have attended services.
—Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024
Preposition
The Leicester fans held aloft the free commemorative scarves which were left on every seat inside the stadium and sang their late chairman’s name.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Oct. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'aloft.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near aloft
Cite this Entry
“Aloft.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aloft. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
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