as in aviators
one who flies or is qualified to fly an aircraft or spacecraft
the airline is seeking experienced pilots to fly the new airplane
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in guides
to give advice and instruction to (someone) regarding the course or process to be followed
piloted the figure skater through the national championships
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in steers
to point out the way for (someone) especially from a position in front
the lead rider piloted the rest of the team
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pilots
Usa Today Network, USA Today, 10 June 2026
In early April, the US military had to launch a risky operation to rescue one of the pilots of a F-15E Strike Eagle that was shot down inside Iran.
—Todd Symons, CNN Money, 9 June 2026
More recently, a military spokesperson told the New York Times that the drone boat had delivered the pilots to a point in the water where they could be hoisted up to a waiting helicopter.
—Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 9 June 2026
On many commercial flights, pilots transition to sophisticated autopilot systems shortly after takeoff that manage much of the flight at cruising altitude.
—Tim Burns, Fortune, 9 June 2026
Instead, Airbus integrated autonomous systems, artificial intelligence tools, and a dedicated sensor package to manage flight operations without onboard pilots.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 8 June 2026
The group’s head, and one of the surviving pilots that day, was José Basulto, a veteran CIA asset and participant in the Bay of Pigs invasion.
—Kevin A. Young, The Conversation, 8 June 2026
If health systems, payers and pharma companies want to move from dozens of AI pilots to hundreds of production systems, the manual committee model has to change.
—David Talby, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 8 May 2026
Benji gives in to whatever Jake wants, desperate not to rock the boat, while Jake frequently pilots their relationship, taking control without giving much thought to Benji and his desires.
—David Opie, IndieWire, 4 May 2026
The drones are always recording and equipped with high-quality zoom and thermal cameras as a Cincinnati police officer remotely pilots the drone from the department's command center.
—David Ferrara, Cincinnati Enquirer, 11 Dec. 2025
When Claire’s adult daughter Channing pilots the idea of going on a ski trip next year and starting her own holiday traditions, Claire completely ices her out and won’t consider it.
—Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 9 Dec. 2025
Maito then pilots one of these robots, called Gaine, and teams up with other mecha to take down the real evil Nouvelle Tokyo City.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Noun
Museums are set up in hangars at Moton Field — one of five Tuskegee area training sites used for Black pilots, and the only one that still exists for the public to experience.
—Usa Today Network, USA Today, 10 June 2026
In early April, the US military had to launch a risky operation to rescue one of the pilots of a F-15E Strike Eagle that was shot down inside Iran.
—Todd Symons, CNN Money, 9 June 2026
More recently, a military spokesperson told the New York Times that the drone boat had delivered the pilots to a point in the water where they could be hoisted up to a waiting helicopter.
—Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 9 June 2026
On many commercial flights, pilots transition to sophisticated autopilot systems shortly after takeoff that manage much of the flight at cruising altitude.
—Tim Burns, Fortune, 9 June 2026
Instead, Airbus integrated autonomous systems, artificial intelligence tools, and a dedicated sensor package to manage flight operations without onboard pilots.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 8 June 2026
The group’s head, and one of the surviving pilots that day, was José Basulto, a veteran CIA asset and participant in the Bay of Pigs invasion.
—Kevin A. Young, The Conversation, 8 June 2026
If health systems, payers and pharma companies want to move from dozens of AI pilots to hundreds of production systems, the manual committee model has to change.
—David Talby, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Verb
There's also an optional co-op mode, which allows two players to split the controls of the Arwing starfighter and other vehicles; one person pilots them while the other shoots at enemies.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 8 May 2026
Benji gives in to whatever Jake wants, desperate not to rock the boat, while Jake frequently pilots their relationship, taking control without giving much thought to Benji and his desires.
—David Opie, IndieWire, 4 May 2026
The drones are always recording and equipped with high-quality zoom and thermal cameras as a Cincinnati police officer remotely pilots the drone from the department's command center.
—David Ferrara, Cincinnati Enquirer, 11 Dec. 2025
When Claire’s adult daughter Channing pilots the idea of going on a ski trip next year and starting her own holiday traditions, Claire completely ices her out and won’t consider it.
—Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 9 Dec. 2025
Maito then pilots one of these robots, called Gaine, and teams up with other mecha to take down the real evil Nouvelle Tokyo City.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pilots
Noun
-
Thousands of family and friends crowded the pier for the roughly 3,500 sailors still on board, after the aviators who flew the planes attached to the carrier, flew off earlier in the week.—
Steve Walsh,
NPR,
23 May 2026
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These blackouts occur when intense X-ray and ultraviolet radiation from solar flares ionize Earth's upper atmosphere, interfering with high-frequency radio signals used by aviators, mariners and amateur radio operators.—
Daisy Dobrijevic,
Space.com,
11 May 2026
Verb
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Its infrared seeker locks onto a target before launch and guides itself to impact without further operator control.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
26 May 2026
-
By the 31st minute, Andrew guides Sudeikis and his family to the back near the other celebrities.—
Melanie Anzidei,
New York Times,
26 May 2026
Verb
-
That process shapes and steers the beam while reducing hardware complexity.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
8 June 2026
-
But laboratory confirmation, genomic sequencing to track the strain, the epidemiological analysis that steers the response, and more can be supported from the national and some provincial capitals.—
Tom Frieden,
STAT,
6 June 2026
Verb
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To her daughter, 8-year-old Hazel (Nola Wallace), Paula is the fun parent, a mom who encourages ice cream for dinner, embraces cursing, enthusiastically participates in TikTok dances, and even coaches her daughter’s youth soccer team.—
Erin Qualey,
Vulture,
29 May 2026
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Perkins coaches his son’s YPG Perkins team, and things were getting chippy against their opponent, Swaveway Playaz.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
28 May 2026
Verb
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For images, Google routes your prompt to Nano Banana.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
19 May 2026
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This is software that encrypts data traffic and routes it through private tunnels to secure servers to prevent anyone from being able to read it.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
An electronic display shows the closing KOSPI index inside the lobby of the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, on June 1, 2026.—
Priyanka Salve,
CNBC,
4 June 2026
-
But blacklisting a company for maintaining civil rights protections, and then banning the military deployment of its AI hours later, shows that the federal government in this instance enables the harm that regulation is meant to prevent.—
Michael Gregory,
The Conversation,
4 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pilots.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pilots. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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