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veers 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of veer
1
as in deviates
to change one's course or direction at this point the river veers to the southwest before finally emptying into the Atlantic Ocean

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in turns
to change the course or direction of (something) veered the ship abruptly to the right to avoid a collision

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in swerves
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course without warning the car veered to the left and into an oncoming truck

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

veers

2 of 2

noun

plural of veer
as in twists

Related Words

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 veers
Verb
Steeped in a deep value investment philosophy that often veers toward the contrarian, the tough housing environment could provide rich targets for Berkshire, which sat on a war chest of some $367 billion at the end of June. — Paulina Likos, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2026 At this point, the movie veers off the rails a bit, culminating in a very bloody conclusion. — ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026 If my car ever veers off the road, this little tool does two things that can genuinely save lives. — Karen Leblanc, Travel + Leisure, 3 Sep. 2026 Most surprising, Just Us is marked by a lack of intellectual rigor that often veers close to bad faith. — Charles Finch, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026 The performance is daringly weird, perverse and outlandish, seductively charming, and, for all the flamboyance, Curry never veers out of control, never takes it too far. — Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2026 The show then veers back to early work, photographic transparencies with magazine transfers made in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, and continues, gallery by gallery, oscillating between different periods of the artist’s nearly six-decade career. — Leah Ollman, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026 The twist comes when the action suddenly veers into science fiction, and Isabella begins quite literally to disappear. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 20 Aug. 2026 That's exactly the mindset incident response leaders need when an incident veers off script from the playbook. — David Etue, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for veers
  1. deviates
  2. turns
  3. swerves
  4. twists
  5. swings
  6. wanders
  7. bends
  8. diverts
Verb
  • But just like in the series’ preceding season, The Ed Gein Story, this one deviates from its titular character to pad itself out.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The actual number of prime numbers deviates from the prediction.
    — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of deviates
Verb
  • Nancy, who turns 49 in December, gets how to fire up the SEC base.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2026
  • When the Farmer destroys the flock’s beloved pumpkin patch, Shaun turns mad scientist to fix the problem, only for events to spiral out of control as a wild beast roams the woods of Mossingham.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of turns
Verb
  • Surveillance video obtained by ABC7 New York shows two men fighting in the street before gunshots ring out, and a vehicle swerves around the moped, appearing to flee the scene.
    — Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 23 Aug. 2026
  • The artist adopts a schizoid persona, with multiple voices flowing out of him, and swerves between lucid social criticism—about the history of slavery or of higher education—and total gibberish.
    — Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of swerves
Noun
  • Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil isn’t the kind of movie that does plot twists.
    — Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Bible readers may wonder how this fit with Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s command, and philosophers have occasionally tried to reconcile the two stories with textual twists.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of twists
Verb
  • Without a buffer, the operation swings violently with every external event.
    — Nilton Bernini, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Rahaf swings her prosthetics to the song, and at one point, wraps her small arms around Accurso’s neck — following the song’s instructions and pretending to be asleep.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of swings
Verb
  • Perhaps most telling of all, Stone cuts the character of Carlotta, a governess born to circus performers who wanders through the play like a lost clown, origin-less, amused, and sad.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • His storytelling wanders us through the city, from one seemingly unplanned pocket of interest to another—what a media or urban critic (and Wilson is both) might call a dérive.
    — Lila Allen, Architectural Digest, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of wanders
Noun
  • When a whisker bends against a surface, these sensors measure tiny pressure shifts to calculate contact depth and location in three dimensions instantly.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Normal Joint Movement As your knee bends and straightens, the kneecap moves within the groove at the end of the thighbone.
    — Kristen Gasnick, Verywell Health, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of bends
Verb
  • Providing false or misleading information to law enforcement undermines those efforts and unnecessarily diverts officers and resources away from members of our community who may need immediate police assistance.
    — Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Instead, your body diverts its limited calories elsewhere, pushing hair follicles into a two- to four-month resting phase before hair eventually sheds.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of diverts

Browse Nearby Words

veeringly
veers
vegan
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Cite this Entry

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

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