saunter
Americanverb
noun
-
a leisurely pace or stroll
-
a leisurely old-time dance
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sauntersimple
-
saunterssimple
-
have saunteredperfect
-
has saunteredperfect
-
am saunteringprogressive
-
are saunteringprogressive
-
is saunteringprogressive
-
have been saunteringperfect progressive
-
has been saunteringperfect progressive
Past
-
saunteredsimple
-
had saunteredperfect
-
was saunteringprogressive
-
were saunteringprogressive
-
had been saunteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of saunter
First recorded in 1660–70; of uncertain origin
Explanation
To saunter is to stroll at a leisurely pace. The next time someone accuses you of dragging your feet and asks you to speed it up, calmly tell them that you’re perfecting your saunter. A verb of unconfirmed origin, saunter means to “walk with a leisurely gait.” As a noun, saunter describes that leisurely gait. Henry David Thoreau once said “it is a great art to saunter.” So while crossing a busy street may not be the best time to test out your sauntering abilities, feel free to practice when you're not in a hurry.
Vocabulary lists containing saunter
Touching Spirit Bear
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the morning—before my aching knee and bulging blisters relegated my saunter to a limp—a 32-mile walk around Manhattan sounded like a good way to spend the first Saturday in May.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Picking one up on my walk home has become a little ritual — cold bottle, hot face, slow saunter.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2025
The 37-year-old former England scrum-half turned provider at the end of the first half, a lovely delayed pass allowing Dombrandt to saunter in for the third try.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2024
When the cows have eaten through one plot, he yanks up a few stakes and lowers the wire, and the animals saunter into the new area.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
If we were playing games, he would saunter up and snatch from us our balls, bats, spinning tops, and marbles.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
An older Black woman saunters down Western, low and slow, holding a watermelon and mango cup in one hand and her cane in the other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
Even as the harmony develops and mutates, Stewart saunters along, his bass keeping the song in a steady rhythmic pocket.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
The man in the surveillance footage has a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and a straw hat shielding his face as he saunters along a Las Vegas sidewalk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
It’s a one-man show of sorts, with George joined by a three-person backing band as he muses on corporate America and saunters through Lipton’s bluesy songbook.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 7, 2022
He saunters into the room, and she backs away, sticks out her lip, and sits on the bed, hard.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
Days before plundering Borel’s wine cellar, the two are believed to have sauntered into Huso, a Michelin-starred Tribeca restaurant that has been celebrated for its collection of bottles, according to a law-enforcement official.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
The Knicks led by as many as 52 points at one stage in the fourth quarter as they sauntered to victory thanks to a blistering 26-point cameo off the bench from Jose Alvarado.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
Once play restarted following Furbank's injury, Damian Penaud sauntered in for his 13th try of Bordeaux's continental campaign to pull his side back within two points.
From BBC ● May 24, 2025
When Morgan Wallen abruptly sauntered offstage during the curtain call that closed his most recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance in March, he quickly sparked online backlash and was accused of disrespecting the comedy institution.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2025
When it was nearly four o’clock, a slender boy in blue jeans from the Southwest team sauntered over to Kyle, Akimi, Sierra, and Miguel, who were slumped in beanbag chairs resembling dinosaur eggs.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
Sure, no one is stopping anyone from sauntering into their local grocery store dressed to the nines in faux fur and pumps.
From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2025
Zheng then won three successive games, dropping just four points along the way, and looked to be sauntering towards the win.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2024
But they are quickly confined by Rahmat’s henchmen, and spend most of the movie standing around a small room or sauntering around the ship trading stale jabs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
She let out a grunt and charged, running right up to Bruiser, who was sauntering by.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
I picked up my burger, but then the sight of Audrey’s brother and his idiot friends sauntering our way made me lose my appetite.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
