sway
to move or swing to and fro, as something fixed at one end or resting on a support.
to move or incline to one side or in a particular direction.
to incline in opinion, sympathy, tendency, etc.: She swayed toward conservatism.
to fluctuate or vacillate, as in opinion: His ideas swayed this way and that.
to wield power; exercise rule.
to cause to move to and fro or to incline from side to side.
to cause to move to one side or in a particular direction.
Nautical. to hoist or raise (a yard, topmast, or the like) (usually followed by up).
to cause to fluctuate or vacillate.
to cause (the mind, emotions, etc., or a person) to incline or turn in a specified way; influence.
to cause to swerve, as from a purpose or a course of action: He swayed them from their plan.
to dominate; direct.
to wield, as a weapon or scepter.
to rule; govern.
the act of swaying; swaying movement.
rule; dominion: He held all Asia in his sway.
dominating power or influence: Many voters were under his sway.
Origin of sway
1synonym study For sway
Other words for sway
Other words from sway
- sway·a·ble, adjective
- swayer, noun
- sway·ing·ly, adverb
- self-sway, noun
- un·sway·a·ble, adjective
- un·sway·ing, adjective
Words Nearby sway
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sway in a sentence
Doomsday messaging may be accurate with regards to the gravity of the problem at hand, but it holds little sway over a public wracked by empathy burnout.
What ‘Schitt’s Creek’ can teach us about climate action | matthewheimer | December 6, 2020 | FortuneI stayed at their Catskills East location and woke up each morning to the sway of century-old trees.
After Eight Weeks Cramped Inside An Apartment, I Escaped To The Catskills | Charli Penn | October 15, 2020 | Essence.comThe hearing gave the clearest indication yet of both parties' best arguments in the matter and of which positions seem most likely to hold sway with Rogers as the case heads toward a full trial.
Apple v. Epic hearing previews a long, hard-fought trial to come | Kyle Orland | September 28, 2020 | Ars TechnicaThese kinds of rules are in place to protect the governing process from improper political influence and elections from the sway of powerful actors.
The GOP Convention Violated Plenty Of Norms, But Did It Undermine Democratic Values? | Julia Azari | September 1, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightPhysicists have never proposed that the law of gravity, the increase in entropy, or the various electromagnetic “rules” that hold sway among subatomic particles should be consulted as a source of ethical good.
Just Because It’s Natural Doesn’t Mean It’s Good - Issue 89: The Dark Side | David P. Barash | August 19, 2020 | Nautilus
There were no obvious leaders; no single ideology or organization held sway over the crowd.
Eric Garner Protests: ‘It’s Like Vietnam’ | Abby Haglage, Caitlin Dickson, Jacob Siegel, Chris Allbritton | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMany millions have been spent on television ads in North Carolina, as groups on the right and left try to sway the electorate.
Those groups were eager to get their hands on anyone who could be used for ransom or political sway.
None of these studies, campaigns, or assertions should be enough to sway public opinion towards or against pot.
You have to sway from one foot to another to keep them from staking their claim.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq | Nathan Bradley Bethea | August 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTVicars' wives had come and gone, but all had submitted, some after a brief struggle, to old Mrs. Wurzel's sway.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsHe rules with a gentler sway than many who are accustomed to other methods of command would believe possible.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowHis brain—the part where human reasoning holds normal sway—was dominated by the purely primitive instinct of flight.
Uncanny Tales | VariousShakespeare tells us that mercy 'is mightiest in the mightiest,' and is 'above this sceptred sway'; Merch.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems | Geoffrey ChaucerThe mob now ruled with undisputed sway in both legislative and executive halls.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. Abbott
British Dictionary definitions for sway
/ (sweɪ) /
(usually intr) to swing or cause to swing to and fro
(usually intr) to lean or incline or cause to lean or incline to one side or in different directions in turn
(usually intr) to vacillate or cause to vacillate between two or more opinions
to be influenced or swerve or influence or cause to swerve to or from a purpose or opinion
(tr) nautical to hoist (a yard, mast, or other spar)
archaic, or poetic to rule or wield power (over)
(tr) archaic to wield (a weapon)
control; power
a swinging or leaning movement
archaic dominion; governing authority
hold sway to be master; reign
Origin of sway
1Derived forms of sway
- swayable, adjective
- swayer, noun
- swayful, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with sway
see hold sway.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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