sailed

verb

past tense of sail
1
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

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2
as in flowed
to move or proceed smoothly and readily sailed through the latest assignment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
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 Aubrey's 65-yard attempt with about 30 seconds left in the second quarter sailed wide left. — Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026 Before its commissioning, the destroyer sailed from Norfolk to Florida and then traveled to Alaska through the Panama Canal. — Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 5 Oct. 2026 Aubrey’s 65-yard attempt with about 30 seconds left in the second quarter sailed wide left. — ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026 His shot sailed short side over Grubauer’s blocker and just under the crossbar. — Janson Duench, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026 But Yamamoto’s throw to third sailed wide, allowing a run to score. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026 The family sailed on the Lusitania in 1914, a year before a German torpedo sank the ship and killed nearly twelve hundred people. — Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026 Wearing a headband and a hard look, Chen took a breath and sailed over a man and two motorcycles. — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026 And a 26-year-old naturalist named Charles Darwin arrived aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Beagle, which had sailed from England nearly four years earlier on a mission to chart South America. — Michele Metych Britannica Editors Sep. 14, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sailed
  1. ferried
  2. flowed
  3. hovered
  4. cruised
  5. drifted
  6. floated
  7. boated
  8. glided
Verb
  • 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
  • The defunct Amtrak line, which ran more than 2,600 miles between Seattle and Chicago, ferried passengers to stops in Boise, Pocatello and Salt Lake City, winding along tracks that still carve through Idaho’s Snake River Plain today.
    — Rose Evans September 15, Idaho Statesman, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of ferried
Verb
  • Star67, a private-dining concept, kept the crowd snacking on birthday cake bites and ice cream sundaes as the drinks flowed.
    — Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Material from both sides of this line flowed together to assemble the parent objects of Bennu, Ryugu and CI chondrites, with ice acting like glue to bond the fine dust particles together.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of flowed
Verb
  • In fact, total non-pensioner benefits have hovered between 4% and 5% for more than 40 years.
    — The Week UK, TheWeek, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Jordan Addison has hovered just below the 1,000-yard mark for two of his previous three seasons.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of hovered
Verb
  • The Chicago Blackhawks were coming off a less-than-ideal season opener to Vegas, where the Stanley Cup runner-ups cruised to a 5-2 win.
    — Kalen Lumpkins, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Caitlin Clark put together a historic performance as the Indiana Fever cruised to a 99-89 victory in Game 2 of their playoff matchup against the Aces on Tuesday, forcing a win-or-go-home Game 3 in Las Vegas.
    — Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of cruised
Verb
  • After the young widow stepped back behind the black curtains, where scoops of mint chocolate chip in disposable bamboo bowls drifted through a room of donors and White House staffers, the evening moved from celebration to wake.
    — Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Now Alicia, a New York dame, drifted over to the orange jackets.
    — Anand Giridharadas, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of drifted
Verb
  • Ellison floated the idea of having the companies leave California if the suit wasn’t dropped, while states like Texas and Tennessee actively courted the mogul.
    — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Beckwith, the deputy director and chief curator at the Guggenheim Museum and curator of Documenta16, floated through the room chatting with fellow honorees and guests.
    — Brianna J. Heath, Footwear News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of floated
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
  • 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
  • Merino glided away from challenges to keep Arsenal in control.
    — Thom Harris, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of glided

Browse Nearby Words

sailboats
sailed
sailed into
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Cite this Entry

“Sailed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sailed. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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