floated

verb

past tense of float
1
as in hovered
to rest or move along the surface of a liquid or in the air a canoe floating down the river particles of dust floating in the air

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in wandered
to move about from place to place aimlessly lost touch with a childhood friend who spent much of his adult life floating from place to place

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 floated However, Newcastle have been looking at alternatives, and Parma’s Zion Suzuki, the 23-year-old Japan international, has featured during internal discussions, while Brighton’s 25-year-old goalkeeper Carl Rushworth has also been floated. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 21 July 2026 The team floated the idea to Nestlé’s global KitKat brand group, then gave its agency partner, VML, 24 hours to return with a concept. — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 20 July 2026 Occasional proposals were floated by outside groups to use McAuley, though funding continually was a challenge. — Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2026 As the trawler floated around Lake Jesup, the hose sucked in thousands of gallons of the murky beige-and-green water, and siphoned it into a holding tank. — Martin E. Comas, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 July 2026 One thing that’s not clear is whether Midtown intends to demolish Sunset Place all at once or in phases — a possible approach floated at one point. — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 17 July 2026 The Oscars tried to trim its broadcast by moving eight categories to a pre-show in 2023, but it was widely criticized and hasn’t been floated again. — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 17 July 2026 Water had risen up to the door of their mobile home, which was eventually swept off its platform and floated down Goat Creek on the Guadalupe, Steward shared. — Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 17 July 2026 Mamdani sparks online frenzy as 'absurd' housing claim is floated at 'freak show' event. — FOXNews.com, 17 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for floated
  1. hovered
  2. wandered
  3. sailed
  4. roamed
  5. swam
  6. drifted
  7. strolled
  8. cruised
Verb
  • His long-term future surely hovered as another complicating factor.
    — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • Somewhere in the heated mist hovered the howls of Albert Ayler and the clarion call of his brother Donald’s trumpet, followed by the Ornette Coleman Quartet, saluting him with joyous cacophony.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2026
Definition of hovered
Verb
  • After running away from home, Fig wandered nearly 30 miles before someone spotted her and the sheriff's department picked her up.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 July 2026
  • So would pianist Jake Shapiro, tickling the ivories as one wandered, to the limited extent one was allowed to wander.
    — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2026
Definition of wandered
Verb
  • Courtesy Luxury Living Costa Rica Fortunes sailed away to Europe 300 years ago.
    — Donna Hardie-Scott, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
  • Sears had allowed only a single and faced the minimum 13 batters when Michael Harris II tied the game with a home run that sailed just beyond the tall wall in right field with one out in the fifth.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 July 2026
Definition of sailed
Verb
  • Coyotes, the true American canine, have roamed this continent for more than 2 million years and were venerated by many of those same Indigenous peoples who once made camp in Big Sky.
    — Jesse Ashlock, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 July 2026
  • The plant-eating giant, named Uragasaurus kalasinensis, is believed to have roamed what is now northeast Thailand around 130 million years ago.
    — Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 13 July 2026
Definition of roamed
Verb
  • Merhige has swam five of the seven, including the Cook Strait and the Catalina and English channels.
    — Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 21 July 2026
  • Though much derided in advance, this expansion of the rubric did mean that Cabo Verde swam into our ken.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
Definition of swam
Verb
  • In the days before his Ford Bronco drifted into the path of an oncoming semi-truck, Matt Miller was settling debts.
    — Alex Andrejev, New York Times, 17 July 2026
  • Microsoft tied itself tightly to OpenAI through a series of investments, but the two companies drifted and became competing with each other after the abrupt 2023 ousting and reinstatement of OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, with little notice to Nadella.
    — Jordan Novet, CNBC, 16 July 2026
Definition of drifted
Verb
  • In a video that’s racking up millions of views online, a curious bear strolled up to a golf cart at Golden Eagle Golf Club in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, helped itself to a player's golf bag, then casually dragged it away from the tee box.
    — Lauren Paige Richeson, USA Today, 17 July 2026
  • Those Argentina fans strolled past the Monterey apartments on Wornall Road at the perfect time, because Susan Goldenberg was doing one of her weekly porch concerts.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 15 July 2026
Definition of strolled
Verb
  • Tarik Skubal pitched seven dominant innings, Spencer Torkelson homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Detroit Tigers cruised to a 7-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 July 2026
  • Tarik Skubal pitched seven dominant innings, Spencer Torkelson homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Detroit Tigers cruised to a 7-0 win over the Angels on Saturday night.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026
Definition of cruised

Browse Nearby Words

float
floated
floating
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Floated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/floated. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on floated

Nglish: Translation of floated for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of itinerant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All