PILOTING Synonyms: 94 Similar and Opposite Words

piloting 1 of 2

noun

as in steering

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piloting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of pilot

as in guiding

to give advice and instruction to (someone) regarding the course or process to be followed piloted the figure skater through the national championships

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as in conducting

to point out the way for (someone) especially from a position in front the lead rider piloted the rest of the team

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in navigating

to operate or control the course of managed to pilot the plane to safety despite the failure of the left engine

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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 piloting

Noun

Each of SkyFall’s Shrike drones equipped with such capability costs about $2,000, compared to the $400 Ukrainian drones that rely only on manual piloting, Meier wrote in a blog post. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 3 Aug. 2026 Human-swarm teaming attempts to solve that problem by shifting operators from direct piloting toward higher-level mission management. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 21 July 2026 Naming the stage clearly (awareness, exploration, active piloting, scaling) prevents organizations from overstating progress and misallocating resources. — Penta Rao Marapatla, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026 Each Artemis 3 astronaut comes from a unique background, with expertise that will contribute to the mission's success, and an array of experiences in aerospace engineering, piloting, EVAs and spacecraft development. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 9 June 2026 Many of the normal tasks of piloting are instead being handled by artificial intelligence. — Pete Muntean, CNN Money, 24 May 2026 At the end of the day, the crew will try out Orion’s manual piloting capability by steering the spacecraft through a variety of tasks. — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2026 Give Charlotte credit for a forward-thinking move rather than auto-piloting into his next contract, but the short-term consequence is that there are no qualified starting centers here. — John Hollinger, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025 With Kinta piloting, and Momo’s psychic powers fused with Aira’s hair abilities, the group makes a desperate attempt to shift the battle in their favor. — Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025

Verb

While snobbery and name-dropping dominate, Nora’s feeling of alienation is tempered by her crush on associate editor Thomas (Joshuah Melnick) who, though only slightly older, seems to know everything about piloting the scene. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026 The rocket planes tested reaction-control systems for maneuvering where the air was too thin for normal aerodynamic controls, while gathering data on heating, stability, structural loads, human performance and piloting techniques during reentry. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 22 Aug. 2026 Boards are pushing for action, and teams are piloting tools across the enterprise. — Dave Wessinger, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 The man accused of piloting an overcrowded motorboat that capsized in the waters off lower Manhattan, killing a young mother and her 5-month-old baby, has been arrested and targeted for deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. — Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 20 Aug. 2026 Usha is also piloting the use of post-consumer garment waste through take-back programs with fashion brands, though its existing circularity program primarily targets cutting waste generated by garment manufacturers. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 20 Aug. 2026 Hernandez was piloting the boat, a Yamaha AR210 with a capacity of 10 people, for a tour operations company, investigators said in a criminal complaint. — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026 Police said Plascencia drove a Chevrolet Red Cruze, while the other driver was piloting a Toyota Prius. — Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 17 Aug. 2026 Douglas County has embraced piloting many programs over the last three years. — Michelle Griego, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for piloting

Noun

Where the Cayenne’s steering is calibrated so that the road nudges the driver, Bentley’s elbows back at those perturbances.

— Byron Hurd, The Drive, 27 Aug. 2026
Issues affecting a car's brakes, steering, or tires should be addressed immediately for safety.

— Michael Kurko, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of steering

Verb

Human judgment will remain essential, although the quality of the system guiding that judgment will become increasingly important.

— Goran Paun, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
For example, Nvidia delivered an incredible earnings report last week and gave an extremely bullish revenue outlook for fiscal 2028, guiding for 70% year-over-year revenue growth versus analyst expectations of roughly 45%.

— Jeff Marks, CNBC, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of guiding

Verb

Athens joins Georgia towns navigating Flock On Friday, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department announced the termination of Nick Barker, the Criminal Intelligence Analyst Supervisor and a non-sworn civilian employee for misusing Flock technology.

— Irene Wright, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
Doing so can cultivate a deeper connection to ourselves and others—and ultimately greater resilience and flexibility in navigating uncertainty.

— Susan Parsons, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of navigating

Noun

In addition to speech, our management of a localized fire for food, safety, and comfort is another uniquely human behavior, one that seems to have coincided with the development of complex spoken language.

— Mike McRae September 02, New Atlas, 3 Sep. 2026
Shelley served as the Warriors’ associate general counsel and director of business and legal affairs and risk management, and Vasquez was the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion.

— Devon Henderson, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of management

Verb

Perhaps his greatest legacy at UCF is Dean was coaching in 1991 when UCF finally moved out of its tiny dank gymnasium and into its first legitimate basketball arena — a sparkling, by UCF standards, 5,100-seat facility.

— Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026
The Seahawks job was coaching running backs, Hammock’s specialty, and included a senior offensive assistant title.

— Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of coaching

Noun

The defense was organized and rebounded well from some early breakdowns on stretch running plays, and Petrino’s offense doesn’t look like the mess Freddie Kitchens’ group was last year.

— Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2026
And then the senior running back went out and did something about it.

— Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of running

Noun

Without Steinem, none of us would be here—writing a newsletter about women’s leadership, or at our desks at work, reading one.

— Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026
Iran’s leadership may be hardened by war, but the country’s economy will eventually need oil exports and reduced sanctions to survive.

— JAMES F. JEFFREY, Foreign Affairs, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of leadership

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“Piloting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piloting. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of piloting

noun

verb

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