as in floating
riding upon the surface of a body of liquid
the boat can't stay afloat much longer
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as in abroad
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Recent Examples of afloat
Brian Womack, Dallas Morning News, 10 Feb. 2026
To stay afloat, Esnard exhausted his personal credit limit.
—Scott Horsley, NPR, 9 Feb. 2026
While Utah needed the loss in order to help secure better positioning in June’s NBA draft, Orlando needed the win just as badly to help remain afloat in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
—Jason Beede, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Feb. 2026
The resulting funding gap meant Edwards and his leadership team had to get creative in order to keep the organization afloat.
—Natalie Wallington, MLK50, 3 Feb. 2026
As result, consumers hoard their money instead of spending it, forcing businesses to trim wages, staff and prices to remain afloat.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 1 Feb. 2026
Utah answered behind Keyonte George and Kyle Filipowski, who found a rhythm of their own, but Dëmin’s shot-making and a balanced Nets bench effort kept Brooklyn afloat.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 31 Jan. 2026
In 2018, Chicago attorney Len Goodman and real estate developer Elzie Higginbottom bought the Reader from the Chicago Sun-Times for $1 and the assumption of debt, rescuing it from dissolution and pumping more than $1 million each into the alternative newspaper to keep it afloat.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
King suggested that a short-term continuing resolution could keep FEMA and other agencies afloat.
—Garrett Downs,emily Wilkins, CNBC, 28 Jan. 2026
Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 6 Feb. 2026
Supporters organized a vigil and raised $300,000 that kept the family and business afloat while the shop was closed — and paid legal bills.
—Geoff Mulvihill, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
The 35-year-old was able to stay afloat by grabbing onto the icy surface near him, and propping himself up.
—Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
Engineers might be closing in on the dream of ships that stay afloat even as water pours into their hulls.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 3 Feb. 2026
Tessa Newsom, née Menzies, scrambled to keep the family afloat.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
However, the Nuggets got key performances from young players Watson and Jalen Pickett, as well as excellent play from Murray, a likely All-Star, to keep the Nuggets afloat.
—Eric Koreen, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2026
Since taking control of the Reader, Noisy Creek has installed longtime Index Newspapers executive Robert Crocker as interim publisher, and injected capital to keep the Chicago alt-weekly afloat.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
If anything, Marathon surging would very much help Destiny by keeping Bungie afloat and relevant among Sony studios.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
Saks Global’s bankruptcy is claiming nearly 10 stores in its latest move to stay afloat.
—Brian Womack, Dallas Morning News, 10 Feb. 2026
To stay afloat, Esnard exhausted his personal credit limit.
—Scott Horsley, NPR, 9 Feb. 2026
While Utah needed the loss in order to help secure better positioning in June’s NBA draft, Orlando needed the win just as badly to help remain afloat in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
—Jason Beede, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Feb. 2026
The resulting funding gap meant Edwards and his leadership team had to get creative in order to keep the organization afloat.
—Natalie Wallington, MLK50, 3 Feb. 2026
As result, consumers hoard their money instead of spending it, forcing businesses to trim wages, staff and prices to remain afloat.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 1 Feb. 2026
Utah answered behind Keyonte George and Kyle Filipowski, who found a rhythm of their own, but Dëmin’s shot-making and a balanced Nets bench effort kept Brooklyn afloat.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 31 Jan. 2026
In 2018, Chicago attorney Len Goodman and real estate developer Elzie Higginbottom bought the Reader from the Chicago Sun-Times for $1 and the assumption of debt, rescuing it from dissolution and pumping more than $1 million each into the alternative newspaper to keep it afloat.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
King suggested that a short-term continuing resolution could keep FEMA and other agencies afloat.
—Garrett Downs,emily Wilkins, CNBC, 28 Jan. 2026
Adverb
As the district works to stay afloat until the summer, efforts to shape the fiscal solvency plan for the following two years begin, which will bring more serious cuts.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 6 Feb. 2026
Supporters organized a vigil and raised $300,000 that kept the family and business afloat while the shop was closed — and paid legal bills.
—Geoff Mulvihill, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
The 35-year-old was able to stay afloat by grabbing onto the icy surface near him, and propping himself up.
—Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
Engineers might be closing in on the dream of ships that stay afloat even as water pours into their hulls.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 3 Feb. 2026
Tessa Newsom, née Menzies, scrambled to keep the family afloat.
—Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026
However, the Nuggets got key performances from young players Watson and Jalen Pickett, as well as excellent play from Murray, a likely All-Star, to keep the Nuggets afloat.
—Eric Koreen, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2026
Since taking control of the Reader, Noisy Creek has installed longtime Index Newspapers executive Robert Crocker as interim publisher, and injected capital to keep the Chicago alt-weekly afloat.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
If anything, Marathon surging would very much help Destiny by keeping Bungie afloat and relevant among Sony studios.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for afloat
Adjective
-
Companies with a smaller market value generally tend to have more floating rate debt than larger businesses.—
Lisa Kailai Han,
CNBC,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Social media posts and years of reviewing cookie-cutter luxury hotels had conditioned me to equate floating breakfasts, monogrammed accessories, butler service, and aromatherapy menus as markers of a dreamy luxury vacation.—
Katherine Alex Beaven,
Travel + Leisure,
22 Oct. 2024
Adverb
-
Though the holiday’s origins trace back to ancient China, it’s now celebrated across East and Southeast Asia and abroad.—
Phoebe Fry,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Last September, Navalnaya said her team had transferred some biological samples from his body abroad, and two laboratories confirmed he had been poisoned.—
Nandika Chatterjee,
Time,
14 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
And while the absence of a hometown rooting interest obviously won’t translate into a total baseball blackout hereabouts, only someone who’s been clobbered over the head by Wonderboy might expect to see the World Series ratings reach the heights of last year.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
10 Oct. 2025
-
This time the recipient is area rancher Benjamin Bonney (Dermot Mulroney), who along with his thuggish sons is suspected of murdering anyone hereabouts who won’t surrender their own land to him.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
10 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
The different textures that casting directors are looking everywhere to find doesn’t just mean assembling a diverse but complementary set of faces for the audience to look at.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
9 Feb. 2026
-
The easy solution to the practice’s energy drain, Scott says, is making sure that electricity is coming from renewable sources—a switch that snow towns everywhere from Quebec to the French Alps have already made.—
Simmone Shah,
Time,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Afloat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/afloat. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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