SAILING Synonyms: 76 Similar and Opposite Words

sailing 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of sailing

as in hovering

Related Words

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Dissimilar Words

sailing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of sail

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

as in flowing

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

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 sailing

Verb

After sailing about half an hour, Choi’s navy yard utility boat slowed and hovered – never fully stopping as the water was far deeper than the length of the anchor. — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026 The Costa Cruises vessel was reportedly sailing from Naples to Sicily when the brawl erupted at sea. — Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026 The ship-tracking website VesselFinder lists it as sailing under the Liberian flag. — James Cirrone, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2026 And towards the front of the property, where guests first arrive is the marina and yacht club which is accessible not only to guests but also to boaters sailing the BVI. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Sep. 2026 Buffs wideouts were sailing past Tech defenders on both boundaries, sometimes by two or three steps. — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 4 Sep. 2026 The 91-meter (298-foot) Alsu is an oil or chemical tanker sailing from Kocaeli, east of Istanbul, to Aliaga on the Aegean coast, according to the Marine Traffic website. — ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026 The tanker was sailing in the southern shipping lane close to the Omani coast, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said in a post on Tuesday, Asia time. — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 1 Sep. 2026 Yet the language, always extraordinarily resilient, is again sailing toward new horizons in the 21st century. — Ilan Stavans, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sailing

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

In 2023, Newsom signed legislation removing California’s restrictions on cruising and stripping local governments of the ability to enact bans based on repeatedly driving through an area.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Though the culture never disappeared since the heyday of cruising in the 1980s and 1990s, interest in lowriding has surged in recent years.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of cruising

Verb

As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began flowing, Ramey took a deep breath, sputtered and began snoring.

— MICHAEL GRACZYK, Arkansas Online, 24 Sep. 2026
The power grid automatically moves it, continuously flowing, to wherever demand is spiking, the moment it’s needed.

— Thomas Zawacki, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of flowing

Verb

While floating-rate and short-duration instruments offer attractive yields with no or minimal interest-rate risk, investors can pick up some additional income by moving out slightly longer to intermediate-term bonds.

— Michelle Fox, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026
Visitors traveling across Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay earlier this month may have seen a strange-looking boat with wings and a whale-like tail floating in the estuary’s calm late-summer waters.

— Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of floating

Verb

The park has boating access, paddlesport rentals, and a swimming beach, as well as hiking trails, campgrounds, and mini cabins.

— Savannah Born, Travel + Leisure, 17 Sep. 2026
In 2017, Clear Lake’s dire condition led the state to establish a blue ribbon commission, with tribal participation, focused on cleaning up the lake to bolster the local boating and fishing economy.

— Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of boating

Verb

The bay facing the western shore of Newfoundland is the mouth—the gaping estuary—of the Saint Lawrence, Newfoundland on the chart detached and apparently drifting out to sea.

— Paul Theroux, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2026
By contrast, heart rate barely moved during the control trial, drifting from 85 to 80 bpm.

— Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of drifting

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sailers

sailing

sailing into

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Style

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

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Synonyms of sailing

adjective

verb

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