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Careen and Career
Some people might be confused by the warning to not confuse careen and career, because the most common sense of career ("a profession") is not much like any of the meanings of careen. But when employed as a verb, career does have some semantic overlap with careen; both words may be used to mean "to go at top speed especially in a headlong manner." A car, for instance, may either careen or career. Some usage guides hold, however, that the car is only careening if there is side-to-side motion, as careen has other meanings related to movement, among which is "to sway from side to side."
Examples of careen in a Sentence
ArsTechnica, 7 July 2025
The striker did the rest, firing home via a deflection and careening into the embrace of the first rows, beyond delirious.
—Jack Lang, New York Times, 20 June 2025
The footage showed a white SUV rolling through a stop sign and careening into Cervantes’ black sedan at the intersection in midtown Sacramento.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 20 June 2025
Few competitors are able to remain upright for very long, some are anxiously trying to maintain control by sliding on their bottoms, while others have lost all dignity, careening down in various states of distress.
—Don Riddell, CNN Money, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for careen
Cite this Entry
“Careen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/careen. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
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