1
as in circling
to travel completely around
the first ship to circumnavigate the globe
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in bypassing
to avoid by going around
we can circumnavigate the traffic jam if we take the next exit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of circumnavigating
Superpressure balloons can last for months and travel long distances, potentially circumnavigating the globe, all the while reporting their position.
—
IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan. 2026
Two hundred seventy-two miles of scenery are signposted by pretty blue and orange ribbons circumnavigating the island, representing the ocean and those ubiquitous mandarins.
—Gary Shteyngart, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Nov. 2023
IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan. 2026
Two hundred seventy-two miles of scenery are signposted by pretty blue and orange ribbons circumnavigating the island, representing the ocean and those ubiquitous mandarins.
—Gary Shteyngart, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Nov. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumnavigating
Verb
-
Consider how satellites reflect sunlight while also circling our planet very quickly.—
Monisha Ravisetti,
Space.com,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Cars circling endlessly around full parking lots and lines of vehicles stretched for miles along the routes to enter the park.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
As an alternative to oral estrogen pills, which is what the women in the Women's Health Initiative study took, many women now use estrogen patches or gels, which deliver the hormone through the skin, bypassing a first pass through the liver.—
Allison Aubrey,
NPR,
10 Mar. 2026
-
That means bypassing often months-long wait times to get an appointment with a specialist.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The French carrier had already rerouted three of its services traversing the Suez Canal back around the Cape of Good Hope due to the uncertainty in the region.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
2 Mar. 2026
-
With commercial truck builds that are bigger than average cars, difficulty halting, and limited maneuvering, these factors can make traversing construction zones riskier for commercial truck drivers.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA TODAY,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Trump and Vance are now apparently circumventing that existing structure not for public safety, but for politics and power.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
-
The couple also allegedly photographed hundreds of computer screens containing confidential information from Google and Company 2, in what appeared to be an attempt at circumventing digital monitoring tools.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
As of writing this article, there are about 14,000 satellites orbiting our planet — nearly 10,000 of which belong to SpaceX — and the number is going to increase aggressively as commercial interests in this realm continue to grow.—
Monisha Ravisetti,
Space.com,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Both the European Space Agency (ESA) and China’s Institute of Optoelectronics have reported successful gigabit-speed laser links to high-orbiting satellites.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
After resolving debt and avoiding Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the always press-averse Ellison departed Hollywood right before the COVID-19 pandemic and largely stayed away for a number of years.—
Mia Galuppo,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Miller said avoiding commercial terminals is purposefully built into RetrievAir’s business model.—
Rick Mauch,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The sprawling Discover campus features a complex of four buildings encircling a large retention pond.—
Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Mar. 2026
-
In Houston, service will run inside the Loop, a 38-mile (61-kilometer) highway encircling downtown.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Whether in the cabin of a long-haul flight, on a research vessel in the middle of the Atlantic, or in a vehicle crossing a remote desert, travelers can expect a future of uninterrupted, gigabit-level internet that follows them across every horizon.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Mar. 2026
-
The man, identified as 33-year-old Wisconsin resident James Douglas McMillan, was crossing through the Sierra Blanca checkpoint – a remote Border Patrol station about 90 miles east of El Paso – when a Border Patrol drug K-9 alerted to his car, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.—
Elizabeth Wolfe,
CNN Money,
4 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Circumnavigating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumnavigating. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
