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
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Recent Examples of alighting
Just as the sun prepared to sink beyond the escarpments, its rays struck every piece of the fractured glass resting on top of the window frames, alighting all of them at once, as if they were shot with electricity.
—
New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Images showed Kim in a black jacket, alighting a mobile missile launcher near the main stage as thousands of people waved small North Korean flags.
—Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 19 Feb. 2026
Over the course of extended scenes, the eye roams the frame, alighting on the pop of natural and manmade details alike.
—Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2026
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
New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Images showed Kim in a black jacket, alighting a mobile missile launcher near the main stage as thousands of people waved small North Korean flags.
—Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 19 Feb. 2026
Over the course of extended scenes, the eye roams the frame, alighting on the pop of natural and manmade details alike.
—Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for alighting
Verb
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The bird, which appears unharmed, matches the description of a starling, a medium-sized perching bird with over 100 species.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
4 May 2026
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Another member of pop’s new generation, Addison Rae, was on hand to hype up the crowd while perching on the edge of the DJ booth.—
Ellise Shafer,
Variety,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Only weeks remain before hundreds of thousands of soccer fans are expected to start descending on Kansas City for the first game, on June 16, of the month-long 2026 FIFA World Cup competition.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
1 May 2026
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This season has been an adventure, with thousands descending on Seville and Porto in particular, transforming those cities into a sea of red for a few glorious days.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Aircraft landing on one of the main runways at Newark come sailing in, low, over multiple lanes of traffic on the Turnpike, which is one of the most congested parts of Interstate 95.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 May 2026
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But the research process also gave Radford a unique opportunity to really dig into the history of her own family, who immigrated from Jamaica to Cuba before landing in the United States.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
4 May 2026
Verb
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The popular halftime performer known as Red Panda finished her signature seven-minute set, looked up at a crowd of fans chanting her name and flashed a smile before dismounting.—
Alanis Thames,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Jan. 2026
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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
Verb
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Hantavirus watch 🦠Americans and others around the world are now being monitored for hantavirus after either disembarking from or coming into contact with people who traveled on the MV Hondius, a cruise ship now tied to multiple cases of the virus.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
7 May 2026
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The man's 69-year-old wife died about two weeks later in South Africa, after disembarking the ship.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Alighting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alighting. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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