SWIMMING Synonyms: 32 Similar and Opposite Words

swimming

verb

Definition of swimming

present participle of swim

as in spinning

to be in a confused state as if from being twirled around his head was swimming after he was given so much information on his first day at the new job

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in sailing

to rest or move along the surface of a liquid or in the air there appeared to be an oily film swimming on the water

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 swimming That teen's death came less than a week after police issued a warning about swimming in the Milford quarry. — Matt Schooley, CBS News, 16 Aug. 2026 Douglass opted not to race the individual 100, instead swimming the 100 breaststroke Thursday. — Peter Baugh, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2026 Several people were swimming from an anchored boat to Chicken Rock, a popular boat gathering and cliff jumping spot, located at the northern part of the lake in Sherman. — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 15 Aug. 2026 Jack Roney, 39, was swimming in six feet of water at a Raleigh pool, holding his breath for an extended period of time before resurfacing. — Chip Alexander, Charlotte Observer, 12 Aug. 2026 Have your own postcard worthy memory with Smile N’ Wave, a charter company that offers sails that specialize in everything from snorkeling to swimming to dolphin chasing from their shaded 31-foot catamaran. — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 12 Aug. 2026 The attack happened Saturday afternoon in the Silver River in Marion County, where Spann was swimming with a group, the New York Post reported. — Kelly McGreal, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026 Like the canal the two girls like to go swimming in as kids, their lives are never the same each time Sanguinetti’s lenses dip into them. — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 11 Aug. 2026 With the incident over the weekend, a bystander reported seeing the lifeguard’s rescue torpedo come about 6 to 8 feet out of the water, shortly after the lifeguard had begun swimming back toward shore. — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 10 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for swimming

Verb

Hubble’s images reveal an intricate web of gas and dust spreading outward from the explosion’s center, where a rapidly spinning neutron star remains.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Aug. 2026
In his 12 seasons at Penn State, James Franklin went 4-21 against top-10 opponents and 1-18 against the best in the Big Ten, spinning the Lions and their fans through the same laundry cycle every year.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of spinning

Verb

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

Definition of sailing

Verb

No one will string the words together and actually say it out loud, but as former players and Campbell tap-dance around the uncomfortable question about what’s changed, the message hovering between the lines is not difficult to read.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
Average costs for the potassium-rich fruit have seen little change as of late, hovering between 65 and 67 cents over the last 12 months.

— Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of hovering

Verb

There, satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows the Christophe de Margerie sidled up against a sprawling floating storage unit, in a formation typical of ship-to-ship cargo transfers.

— Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
Photos of the outside cemetery show flooding and floating debris.

— Dave Savini, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of floating

Verb

In the videos, shot by drone by Joanna Steidle, the creatures can be seen gliding just beneath the water’s surface like hundreds of raviolis floating in aquamarine broth.

— Sanidhya Sharma, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2026
Video from his dash camera shows the aircraft gliding under a highway sign, missing it by mere feet, before touching down in the empty lanes.

— Aaron Cooper, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of gliding

Verb

Satellite imagery shows a haze of wildfire smoke drifting from West Kalimantan into neighboring Malaysia on several days this month, according to BNPB.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
On Tuesday the Bay Area Air District issued an air quality advisory for Tuesday and Wednesday due to smoke from the Timber Fire drifting into the region.

— Tim Fang, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of drifting

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swim

swimming

swimmingly

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“Swimming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swimming. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of swimming

verb

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