sliding

verb

present participle of slide
1
as in sneaking
to move about in a sly or secret manner slid gently into his seat without anyone else in church noticing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in flowing
to move or proceed smoothly and readily at this point the river slides along its banks with barely a ripple

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in crawling
to move slowly with the body close to the ground the convict escaped by sliding through the prison's ductwork

Synonyms & Similar 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 sliding Rodriguez ducks away from the challenge before sliding a reverse pass through for Adria Pedrosa to strike at goal. — Thom Harris, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026 Faraday Future’s shares peaked with excitement about its EV plans in 2021 and have been sliding since then. — Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026 That's because the sink and invisible dual-burner induction cooktop are concealed below a sliding top that works just like a bar or table when retracted. — New Atlas, 2 Sep. 2026 The Braves spent their afternoon with Little League baseball players, sliding down hills and laughing alongside children who will remember Sunday for the rest of their lives. — Gabriel Burns, AJC.com, 25 Aug. 2026 Defender Kevin O'Toole poked the ball away, but Mboma Dem put away a sliding first-touch shot that opened the scoring in the 11th minute. — CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026 This prevents them from sliding around under the sock or slipping out completely during play. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 20 Aug. 2026 His sliding popularity, flip-flopping on key personnel decisions, and entanglement in corruption allegations, have taken their toll on his poll ratings. — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026 An Intensity Slider – a simple sliding bar adjustment for controlling the depth, vibrancy, brightness and contrast of the TV’s pictures to compensate for viewing angles, onscreen reflections and simply different viewing tastes. — John Archer, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sliding
  1. sneaking
  2. flowing
  3. crawling
  4. lurking
  5. gliding
  6. creeping
  7. slipping
  8. drifting
Verb
  • Police are investigating a rash of incidents involving people sneaking out of sewers.
    — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Pinch-hitter Eli White followed by sneaking a soft line drive up the middle to drive in Durbin, cutting the Giants’ lead to 2-1.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of sneaking
Verb
  • Previous research suggested Saturn's hexagon results from an eastward jet within its atmosphere flowing in a curving path near the ringed planet's north pole.
    — Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Progress has been hampered by persistent rain and challenging terrain, as crews have to work in a narrow mountain gorge, hemmed in between unstable cliffs and a fast-flowing river.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of flowing
Verb
  • An ancient Nazi scientist (Dan Stevens) crawling across a carpet to lick a woman’s stilettoed foot.
    — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Classicist and Roman plumbing expert Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow suggests that private toilets might have been cut off from the municipal sewers to prevent animals crawling up the pipes and into homes.
    — Andrew Coletti, Popular Science, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawling
Verb
  • Maybe the top of the fridge hasn’t seen a wipe-down in months, or the inside of your toaster tray has some lurking crumbs.
    — Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Scientists do not yet know whether dark matter is made up of ancient black holes lurking throughout space, undiscovered heavy and slow particles, or unknown lighter and faster particles.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of lurking
Verb
  • Powering the watch is the Spring Drive Caliber 9R65, known for its smooth gliding seconds hand and 72-hour power reserve.
    — Anthony DeMarco, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Gliding swings use a gentle gliding motion for relaxing your baby.
    — BestReviews, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of gliding
Verb
  • But now that fall is slowly creeping in, our wardrobes are ready to turn over a new leaf, too.
    — Amanda Le, InStyle, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Audiences embraced the films for their creeping realism and slow-building scares, which transformed ordinary bedrooms, hallways and home security cameras into places where something terrifying might be lurking just outside the frame.
    — Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of creeping
Verb
  • The 49ers, an otherwise good team, have for the past couple of months been weaving and slipping bad news like a boxer trying to avoid a knockout punch.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The campaign showcases Diesel’s creased denim treated with resin, 3-D denim, trompe l’oeil cable knit denim and the new regular-fit D-Heel jean, which has hidden vertical slits near the ankle, perfect for slipping through a stiletto heel.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of slipping
Verb
  • For some, drifting along on a tube is the ultimate way to soak up the scenery.
    — Gabi De la Rosa, Travel + Leisure, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Closer to home, Roman will monitor small variations in light from stars near the center of the Milky Way galaxy in order to infer the presence of rogue planets drifting between the stars.
    — Don Figer, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of drifting

Browse Nearby Words

slides
sliding
slight
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sliding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sliding. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All