smooth sailing

phrase

: easy progress without impediment or difficulty

After the mix-up was rectified, it was smooth sailing again.

—Mike Brown

He just kept talking and talking his nonstop sunny talk about what a great summer we were going to have and that he had tons of plans and that we would get caught up as father and son and soon all our rough past would be behind us and we would have nothing but smooth sailing for our future.

—Jack Ganto

Examples of smooth sailing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The ship’s crew, though, aren’t expecting just smooth sailing. — Velvet Wu july 26, Sacbee.com, 26 July 2026

However, Fox admitted that things haven’t necessarily been smooth sailing. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 24 July 2026

Otherwise, the passenger’s only responsibility is to sit back, relax, and enjoy what will surely be days of smooth sailing. — Joey Skladany, Travel + Leisure, 14 July 2026

Bronny James later produced a 16-foot jumper to shut down a 6-0 Pacers run out of a Lakers timeout, a play that Redick credited for helping to create smooth sailing toward the win column. — Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 26 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for smooth sailing

• assailing
• availing
• bewailing
• blackmailing
• curtailing
• derailing
• descaling
• detailing
• dovetailing
• entailing
• exhaling
• impaling