PILOTS Synonyms: 73 Similar and Opposite Words

pilots 1 of 2

noun

plural of pilot

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

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pilots

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of pilot

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

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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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in navigates

to operate or control the course of managed to pilot the plane to safety despite the failure of the left engine

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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 pilots

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

Hyatt Regency Lake Washington Budding aviators, plane geeks and those looking for any type of airport job can get a sneak peek without even booking an airline ticket.

— Ramsey Qubein, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
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