floating 1 of 2

adjective

ˈflō-tiŋ How to pronounce floating (audio)
Definition of floatingnext
as in afloat
riding upon the surface of a body of liquid the wreckage remained floating for hours

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

floating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of float
1
as in hovering
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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in wandering
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 floating
Adjective
Social media posts and years of reviewing cookie-cutter luxury hotels had conditioned me to equate floating breakfasts, monogrammed accessories, butler service, and aromatherapy menus as markers of a dreamy luxury vacation. — Katherine Alex Beaven, Travel + Leisure, 22 Oct. 2024 The boat, a single motorboat, was found floating and half-submerged near the Harbor One Marina. — Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 3 Sep. 2024
Verb
Some apps looked like floating windows in the middle of the tablet-sized screen. — Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2026 But then, in 2019, the team heard about Hamas floating incendiary balloons over the border. — Margaux MacColl, Vanity Fair, 21 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for floating
Recent Examples of Synonyms for floating
  1. afloat
  2. hovering
  3. wandering
  4. sailing
  5. roaming
  6. swimming
  7. drifting
  8. cruising
Adjective
  • Unlike previous Ship splashdowns, though, which have exploded after tipping over into the water, Ship 40 remained largely intact and afloat.
    — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Such outlets depended heavily on taxpayer funding, which fed into state advertising and government communication campaigns, and have now lost the support that kept them afloat.
    — Dominique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of afloat
Verb
  • So nothing can dissipate the cloud of suspicion hovering over Attorney General James Uthmeier.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Compare that to the country’s overall unemployment rate, which is hovering around 4%.
    — John Gill, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of hovering
Verb
  • It is said that Hannah’s ghost is fond of wandering Spring Hill Road.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 22 Oct. 2026
  • This formation process also means that brown dwarfs are cosmic loners, wandering the darkness of space alone, bereft of the light of a parent star.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of wandering
Verb
  • The unfortunate crew of the doomed vessel were likely sailing to the west when disaster struck, the researchers wrote in a study about the wreck that was published earlier this year.
    — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The fourth ship was identified as the Al Saadiyat, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag.
    — Mark Osborne, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of sailing
Verb
  • There are roaming partners that exist that these telcos still rely on.
    — Nilay Patel, The Verge, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The idea is to sound like an inferior buck in the brush, one that is roaming around a mature deer’s space and getting on his nerves.
    — Michael Hanback, Outdoor Life, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of roaming
Verb
  • It’s estimated about 25% of the sunscreen people apply to their skin washes off while swimming or wading in the ocean.
    — Matthew Perrone, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
  • For twenty years, McCarthy has been swimming against the current, writing novels that reflect, with unusual intensity, his disdain for the conventional underpinnings of literary fiction.
    — Max Callimanopulos, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of swimming
Verb
  • Three-times married, his was to be a literary career pock-marked by substance abuse issues leading to a peripatetic existence drifting from one august institution to another.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Toxic haze has covered parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the smoke drifting across the region.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of drifting
Verb
  • If Mick hadn’t come cruising into that playground, lights off?
    — George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The Arlington Heights Yellowjackets continued their dominant season Friday, cruising to a dominant 71-0 victory over the North Side Steers and extending their unbeaten record.
    — Aliza Acuna, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of cruising

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Cite this Entry

“Floating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/floating. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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