1
as in perching
to come to rest after descending from the air
a flock of eight swans circled above, then alighted on the pond
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in descending
to come down from something (as a vehicle)
as she alighted from the train, she momentarily lost her footing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of alighting
The colors are richly saturated, and when something catches Ryan’s eye—say, a bee alighting on a wildflower—the images shimmer with an almost radioactive intensity.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
Say each word was a bird—alighting briefly, out of reach and then gone again.
—Leila Chatti
september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
The second was to build what amounts to a nonflammable moat around a home to prevent embers from alighting on anything next to a house that could burn and ignite the structure.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2025
Sound of Falling skips back and forth through time, alighting on moments of both horror and grace across a century in the lives of four women—adolescent and adult—inhabiting the same unsettled spaces.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2025
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
Say each word was a bird—alighting briefly, out of reach and then gone again.
—Leila Chatti
september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
The second was to build what amounts to a nonflammable moat around a home to prevent embers from alighting on anything next to a house that could burn and ignite the structure.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2025
Sound of Falling skips back and forth through time, alighting on moments of both horror and grace across a century in the lives of four women—adolescent and adult—inhabiting the same unsettled spaces.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for alighting
Verb
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Other photos show it while perching on the plant.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
2 Oct. 2025
-
TikTok users were able to see two cats perching over a bathroom sink, which had been filled with tap water.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Sicilian way is to lie, like seals, sprawled along the rocks with a towel and a cold beer before descending abruptly into intense shades of blue.—
Rosalyn Wikeley,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Jan. 2026
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The rampant unpacking of his account descending into ad hominem attacks feels counterintuitive to what people want from celebrities now, a patina of authenticity.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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This isn’t great news for grads who have sunk tens of thousands of dollars into tuition, or are hoping to pay off their debt burden by landing a role similar to those their parents held before them.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Both questions would need final approval from the commission before officially landing on the August ballot.—
Tess Riski
January 8,
Miami Herald,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The woman told investigators Herzing had made similar threats in July, which resulted in the victim suffering minor scrapes after dismounting at a stoplight.—
Lauren Breunig,
Twin Cities,
2 Dec. 2025
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The new cleat should be particularly appealing to racers – who need to snap back in as quickly as possible after dismounting – and to riders who are intimidated by the learning curve involved in using clipless pedals for the first time.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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More than a dozen FBI and DEA personnel were seen disembarking from a plane with Maduro at a New York Air National Guard Base this evening.—
Shane Harris,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
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Collins has been making the most of her time on the train, boarding in Lanvin, then changing into Chloé, and spending an evening in Magda Butrym before disembarking in this boudoir look.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
15 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Alighting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alighting. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
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