careen

1 of 2

verb

ca·​reen kə-ˈrēn 

careened; careening; careens

transitive verb

1

: to put (a ship or boat) on a beach especially in order to clean, caulk, or repair the hull

2

: to cause to heel over

High waves careened the boat.

intransitive verb

1

a

: to clean, caulk, or repair the hull of a boat

b

: to undergo this process

2

: to heel over

3

: to sway from side to side : lurch

… a careening carriage being pulled wildly … by a team of runaway horses …

—J. P. Getty

4

: career

The car careened down the hill.

careen

2 of 2

noun

archaic

: the act or process of careening : the state of being careened

Did you know?

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."

Synonyms of careen

Verb

• lurch
• sway
• rock
• shake

Examples of careen in a Sentence

Verb

the sled careened as it barreled down the hill

he careened unsteadily to the couch after hitting his head

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Dashcam footage posted on social media shows the aircraft careening down the highway, taking out a light post before coming to a stop. —ABC News, 17 June 2026

Dashcam footage posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway, taking out a light post before coming to a stop. —CBS News, 17 June 2026

The ruling comes a month after a pickup careened at more than 50 mph into a crowd of people near the intersection of 85th Avenue and International Boulevard. —Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 16 June 2026

The pickup was careening all over the roadway, the deputy wrote later that day. —Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 15 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

from carine side of a ship, from Middle French, submerged part of a hull, from Latin carina hull, half of a nutshell; perhaps akin to Greek karyon nut

First Known Use

Verb

1578, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

1712, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for careen

• agin
• alkene
• allene
• ameen
• amin
• arene
• athene
• baleen
• beeline
• benzene
• between
• bromine

Kids Definition

careen

verb

ca·​reen

kə-ˈrēn

1

: to cause a boat to lean or tilt over on one side for cleaning or repairing

2

: to sway from side to side

3

: career entry 2