sailing 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of sailingnext
as in hovering

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sailing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of sail
1
as in cruising
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
2
as in flowing
to move or proceed smoothly and readily sailed through the latest assignment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in floating
to rest or move along the surface of a liquid or in the air a leaf sailed by, carried by the breeze

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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 sailing
Verb
Off property, the hotel can connect guests with surf lessons, sailing on Jamaica Bay, paddleboarding, and sailing excursions. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Aug. 2026 The ship was sailing from Lerwick in Shetland to Dundee at the time. — Nathan Diller, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026 The Benfold, a 30-year-old ship, was sailing with the George Washington carrier strike group on July 24 when an issue with the ship's generators caused a complete loss of power aboard the destroyer, according to Comer. — Steven Beynon, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026 The announcement of additional ships sailing from some ports of call. — Kimberly Zapata, Parents, 18 Aug. 2026 Offensive notes Tommy DeVito settled in nicely after sailing some early throws. — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 15 Aug. 2026 That comment followed news that the USS George Washington is now sailing to the Middle East and is expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which has been at sea for some 250 days and not had a port call for more than 200. — Alexander Smith, NBC news, 14 Aug. 2026 The incident took place earlier this month when a vessel was sailing in a fjord in northeastern Svalbard, around 620 miles from the North Pole. — CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026 Soon, Repkon’s flow-forming machines were sailing across the Atlantic, heading eventually for Mesquite. — Jesse Coburn, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sailing
  1. hovering
  2. cruising
  3. flowing
  4. floating
  5. gliding
  6. boating
  7. drifting
  8. swimming
Adjective
  • The drones then find the best hovering altitude before each lining up to spray the fire, one after the other.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 20 July 2026
  • He-Man was now a jolly, quip-ready hero, whose best friends were scaredy-cat Cringer (a green-and-yellow tiger who transformed into Battle Cat), and an annoying, hovering magician called Orko.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 1 June 2026
Definition of hovering
Verb
  • Travelers have also weighed in online about the benefits and drawbacks of cruising in Greenland.
    — Kelly McGreal, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2026
  • By then Arsenal were cruising, thanks to an hour of crisp passing and progressive possession punctuated by goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Odegaard.
    — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of cruising
Verb
  • Notwithstanding Tehran’s influence, as many as 15 million barrels of oil are flowing out the Gulf each day on average, including via the strait and through pipelines, according to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
    — Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The floods also altered the course of the White River, which is now flowing into the Martin Marietta quarry at 96th Street and Gray Road, which can hold millions of gallons of water.
    — John Tufts, IndyStar, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of flowing
Verb
  • The Mexican navy searched a vast area of the Pacific Ocean by sea and air, eventually finding the two men floating in a large fishing cooler about 150 miles off the coast of Chiapas, a southern state in Mexico that borders Guatemala.
    — Diego Mendoza, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The Port of Los Angeles forklift driver was wearing a life vest and was floating away, out to sea -- cold, worried about sharks and drowning.
    — Michele Gile, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of floating
Adjective
  • In addition, the action includes top-tier spider combat and awesome web-slinging and web-gliding traversal abilities.
    — George Yang, PC Magazine, 1 May 2026
Definition of gliding
Verb
  • In Antonioni’s film, after a woman disappears during a boating vacation, her partner and her best friend travel around looking for her, while the bond between them tightens and their grip on the threads of certainty loosens.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026
  • This event allows the public to enjoy kayaking waters normally closed to boating, while simultaneously aiding in preserving the lagoon habitat by removing trash.
    — Ut Community Press, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of boating
Verb
  • The generation with the most to lose The clearest evidence that confidence and competence are drifting apart shows up in the generational data.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Dark, light-absorbing particles turn into light-scattering particles, transforming dark, dense plumes into the milky white haze seen drifting across the eastern skies.
    — Michael A. Robinson, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of drifting
Verb
  • The Louisiana Department of Health announced last week a resident had likely contracted the organism, known as Naegleria fowleri, while swimming in Lake Claiborne which is about 30 miles northwest of Ruston.
    — Diego Mendoza, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Lillian Smart, an 8-year-old girl who health officials believe contracted a brain-eating amoeba while swimming in a northern Louisiana lake, died Saturday at a Ruston hospital from an infection linked to the pathogen.
    — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of swimming

Browse Nearby Words

sailers
sailing
sailing into
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Cite this Entry

“Sailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sailing. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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