SAILED Synonyms: 71 Similar and Opposite Words

sailed

verb

past tense of sail

as in ferried

to travel on water in a vessel I can't sail when there's any breeze at all because I get seasick easily

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in flowed

to move or proceed smoothly and readily sailed through the latest assignment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in hovered

to rest or move along the surface of a liquid or in the air a leaf sailed by, carried by the breeze

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 sailed Cleopatra and Julius Caesar sailed the river with a 400-ship flotilla. — Susan B. Barnes, Travel + Leisure, 29 Oct. 2026 Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn sailed to another strong lead with an Argentine tango inspired by Black Swan. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Oct. 2026 Brady also took issue with a call against Detroit, suggesting Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes didn't deserve an unnecessary roughness flag for bumping running back MarShawn Lloyd after a pass sailed over Lloyd's head. — ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026 Built by master Konjo shipwrights in South Sulawesi using dense tropical teak and ironwood, Silolona and its sister phinisi schooner, Si Datu Bua, venture where few travelers have sailed before. — Luke Abrahams, Vogue, 27 Oct. 2026 Opinions about Sir Walter Raleigh, who sailed the seas in the 16th century, vary widely. — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 27 Oct. 2026 The ball sailed out of bounds but still entertained the crowd. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 27 Oct. 2026 Needing 11 yards on fourth down to continue their drive and cut into a 23-7 Packers lead, Prescott narrowly avoided a sack before lofting a pass that sailed out the back of the end zone, not close to any particular Cowboys receiver. — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2026 Yet Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare – senior Tory politician, former athlete, bestselling novelist and bon viveur – simply sailed on. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 17 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sailed

Verb

The first few days of Riyadh Season have gone ahead with little incident, even if participants were forced to divert to other cities or even neighboring Bahrain or Kuwait before being ferried back to the Saudi capital.

— Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
Treasury said Caspian had transported IRGC personnel and weapons to Syria and said Meraj had ferried illicit cargo, including weapons, to the Syrian government.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of ferried

Verb

Trump’s approval rating hovered near 50% as his second term began.

— Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 8 Nov. 2026
Simpson noted that the district has generally hovered near the state average in terms of graduation rates in recent years, and said that this is a continued area of focus for its high school team.

— Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of hovered

Verb

Archbishop McCarthy cruised past Viera in three sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-14) in the state semifinal.

— Alex Kushel, Sun Sentinel, 7 Nov. 2026
Wednesday’s game was very different, as the Panthers cruised early and took advantage of Hawks mistakes, a familiar story this season.

— Kalen Lumpkins, Chicago Tribune, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of cruised

Verb

Canseco drifted back toward the warning track, positioned himself near the wall and prepared to make what appeared to be a fairly ordinary defensive play.

— Jon Root, FOXNews.com, 13 Nov. 2026
After the first landing, Philae bounced up and drifted around the comet for two hours, making another bounce before Rosetta's cameras lost track of it.

— Tariq Malik, Space.com, 12 Nov. 2026

Definition of drifted

Verb

Over two partial days and one full day of fishing – roughly 15 hours total – the three of us boated 53 catfish up to 25 pounds.

— Brad Dokken, Twin Cities, 29 Aug. 2025
Many of the 30,000 tourists last year who boated down the Paraguay River beside the Serra do Amolar, about 60 miles downriver from Porto Jofre, were guests on liveaboard fishing charters.

— Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Aug. 2025

Definition of boated

Verb

Outside the double-height windows, bands of pigeons glided through the middle distance.

— Nolan Kelly, Artforum, 26 Oct. 2026
The pinkish squid glided two miles beneath the surface, its long, pale legs trailing from undulating fins, stunning scientists who know remarkably little about its diet, behavior or reproduction.

— Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of glided

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sailboats

sailed

sailed into

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“Sailed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sailed. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of sailed

verb

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