Word.ws English Dictionary

afloat

UK/əˈfləʊt//əˈfloʊt/

afloat adverb: in or into a state of floating.

Adverb

afloat (not comparable)

  1. In or into a state of floating.
    • You have so little Brains, that a Penn’orth of Butter melted under ’um, would set ’um afloat:1668, John Dryden, Sir Martin Mar-all, London: H. Herringman, act II, page 22
    • […] I went down to my Boat, got the Water out of her, and got her afloat, loaded all my Cargo in her, and then went Home again for more;1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 224
  2. In, or while in, a vessel at sea or on another body of water; at sea.
    • […] that trade […] may likewise employ many useful hands both ashore and afloat,1788, Alexander Jardine, Letters from Barbary, France, Spain, Portugal, &c., London: T. Cadell, Volume 2, Letter 23, p. 236
    • They was the roughest crew afloat, was Flint’s; the devil himself would have been feared to go to sea with them.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 11, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), page 88
    Antonyms:
    ashore
  3. Under water (bearing floating objects).
    • […] it [the River Dove] overflows and lays the meadows afloat in April, like another Nile.1695, Edmund Gibson (translator), Camden’s Britannia, London: A. Swalle, “Staffordshire,”
    Synonyms:
    awash
  4. (figuratively, usually) In or into circulation or currency.
    • setting a lie aflote1587, Raphael Holinshed et al., Holinshed’s Chronicles, volume 3, Edward I, page 298
    • […] I shall not be judged fairly; it will get afloat that I am not a good girl,1878, Thomas Hardy, chapter 5, in The Return of the Native, volume 2, London: Smith, Elder, page 163
  5. (figuratively, obsolete) In or into a condition of stimulation, arousal, confusion, bewilderment, etc.
    • No angry passions rise to disturb the silent progress of the work, […] no irritable humours are set afloat:1821, William Hazlitt, Table-Talk, London: John Warren, Essay 1, page 3
    • […] they knew how to abstain from the overdose of liquor that sets the brain afloat and loosens the tongue.1878, John Berwick Harwood, chapter 17, in Helena Lady Harrogate,, volume 1, London: Richard Bentley, page 312
    Synonyms:
    at sea

Adjective

afloat (not comparable)

  1. Floating.
    • A rubber duck and other toys were afloat in the bath.
    • On such a full sea are we now afloat; / And we must take the current when it serves, / Or lose our ventures.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  2. In, or found while in, a vessel at sea or on another body of water.
    • […] that trade […] may likewise employ many useful hands both ashore and afloat,1788, Alexander Jardine, Letters from Barbary, France, Spain, Portugal, &c., London: T. Cadell, Volume 2, Letter 23, p. 236
    Antonyms:
    ashore
  3. Floating in the air; flowing freely; not tied, braided, etc. (of hair or clothing)
    • her black hair loose and a-float down her dazzling white neck1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC
    • unbound silvery-gold tresses afloat beneath a jeweled coronet1971, Poul Anderson, chapter 4, in The Broken Sword, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1981, page 11
  4. Covered with water, bearing floating objects.
    • The decks are afloat.
    • The yard was afloat. Jody looked out of the window and saw two drowned biddies floating about with upturned bellies.1938, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, chapter 19, in The Yearling, New York: Scribner, page 233
    Synonyms:
    awash, flooded
  5. (figuratively) Covered, overspread, filled (with or in something).
    • The larch-wood was afloat with clear, lyric green,1911, D. H. Lawrence, The White Peacock, London: Heinemann, Part 2, Chapter 2, p. 233
    • The world was afloat in primrose light, pale and exquisite.1935, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Mistress Pat, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, published 1937, page 100
    Synonyms:
    alive, awash
  6. Having just enough resources to continue to operate; barely able to pay expenses; (of a private individual, family, etc.) keeping one's head above water.
    • The donation will keep our business afloat for quite a while.
    • […] you nede not to be sorye, as thoughe your frendely liberalitie had not be very acceptable vnto me. I haue receaued euery thing, and now I am afloate, by your lyberall sendyng.1549, Miles Coverdale, transl., The Paraphrase of Erasmus upon the New Testament, London: Edward Whitchurche, Volume 2, Philippians 4
    Antonyms:
    bankrupt, insolvent
  7. (figuratively, usually) Believed or talked about by many people; being passed from person to person.
    • The supervisor was never fired, though countless accusations of dishonesty were afloat.
    • […] she and I were accepted, whatever ugly rumours had been afloat in the past year, as man and wife.1945, Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited, London: Chapman & Hall, Book 2, Chapter 3, p. 243
  8. (figuratively, obsolete) Stimulated, aroused, activated.
    • You’ll find, when once my passion is afloat, / The soul of Caesar, in a petticoat!1769, Elizabeth Griffith, The School for Rakes, London: T. Becket and P.A. De Hondt, Epilogue, page 92
    • My half frozen blood and my fears again afloat made me tremble through every limb;1794, Thomas Holcroft, chapter 6, in The Adventures of Hugh Trevor, volume 1, London: Shepperson and Reynolds, page 46
  9. (figuratively, obsolete) In a state of confusion, bewilderment, or distraction.
    • I know not what to say; my mind is all afloat; yet you will not reproach me with caprice or inconstancy.1789, Edward Gibbon, letter to Lord Sheffield dated August 1789, in Miscellaneous Works, London: A. Strahan et al., 1796, p. 201
    • […] he could correctly analyze and parse any sentence you could give him, no matter how complex; but when it came to talking he was all afloat.1887, Harry Castlemon, chapter 1, in Our Fellows, Philadelphia: John C. Winston, page 10

Preposition

afloat

  1. (obsolete) Floating upon.
    • early 1600s, John Webster and William Rowley, The Thracian Wonder, London: Thomas Johnson, 1661, Act I, Scene 1,
      But Huswife, as for you, / You with your Brat, wee’l send afloat the Main,
    • […] great wee see must be the art and cunning of that man, that keeps him afloat the streame of Soveraigne favour,1642, Robert Cotton, The Troublesome Life and Raigne of King Henry the Third, London: George Lindsey, page 5

afloat meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

afloat in Tamil

மிதக்கும் நிலையில், கடலில், கப்பலில், கடற்படைப் பணியில், நீர்நிரம்பி, காற்றில் மிதந்துகொண்டு

afloat in Urdu

بےٹھکانا, سیلاب زدہ, تیرتا

afloat in Malayalam

വെള്ളത്തിലോ വായുവിലോ പൊങ്ങിക്കിടക്കുന്ന, ദിക്കില്ലാത്ത, ഒഴുകി നടക്കുന്ന

afloat in Kannada

ತೇಲುವ

Examples of afloat in a sentence

  • Oh why is heaven built so far, / Oh why is earth set so remote? / I cannot reach the nearest star / That hangs afloat.1881, Christina Rossetti, “De Profundis”, in A Pageant and Other Poems, London: Macmillan, page 60:
  • Navy chow ashore is rarely as good as it is afloat, and for enlisted men it is usually much worse.1947, James Michener, “The Strike”, in Tales of the South Pacific, New York: Dial, published 2014, page 315:
  • […] as this example set the discourse about witchcraft afloat, some people, troubled with a similar complaint, began to fancy themselves bewitched too.1757, William Burke, Edmund Burke, An Account of the European Settlements in America, London: R. and J. Dodsley, Volume 2, Part 7, Chapter...
  • […] she roars down the street, dreads and feathers and cape afloat,2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Hamish Hamilton, →ISBN, page 152:

All 36 example sentences with afloat

Synonyms of afloat

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of afloat

Origin of afloat

From a- + float.

Words that rhyme with afloat

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about afloat

What does afloat mean?
Afloat means in or into a state of floating.
What is afloat in Tamil?
Afloat in Tamil is மிதக்கும் நிலையில், கடலில், கப்பலில். See Afloat meaning in Tamil.
How do you use afloat in a sentence?
Oh why is heaven built so far, / Oh why is earth set so remote? / I cannot reach the nearest star / That hangs afloat.
What part of speech is afloat?
Afloat can be an adverb, an adjective or a preposition.
How do you pronounce afloat?
Afloat is pronounced /əˈfloʊt/ (US).

Words near afloat in the dictionary

  1. AFLG
  2. aflibercept
  3. aflicker
  4. aflight
  5. AFLNZ
  6. afloat
  7. aflood
  8. aflop
  9. afloqualone
  10. aflouncement
  11. aflouncements

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: afloat (page history and authors); afloat (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); afloat (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); afloat (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); afloat (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-afloat.ogg.

Cite this entry: “afloat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/afloat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.