circumnavigate
Americanverb (used with object)
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circumnavigates,
present (3rd person singular)
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circumnavigated,
past participle, past
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circumnavigating
present participle
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to sail or fly around; make the circuit of by navigation.
to circumnavigate the earth.
-
to go or maneuver around.
to circumnavigate the heavy downtown traffic.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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circumnavigatesimple
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circumnavigatessimple
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have circumnavigatedperfect
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has circumnavigatedperfect
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am circumnavigatingprogressive
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are circumnavigatingprogressive
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is circumnavigatingprogressive
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have been circumnavigatingperfect progressive
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has been circumnavigatingperfect progressive
Past
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circumnavigatedsimple
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had circumnavigatedperfect
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was circumnavigatingprogressive
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were circumnavigatingprogressive
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had been circumnavigatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of circumnavigate
1625–35; < Latin circumnāvigātus (past participle of circumnāvigāre ), equivalent to circum- circum- + nāvigātus; see navigate
Explanation
Circumnavigate means to travel around in a big circle. When you circumnavigate the world, will you do it in a boat or a hot air balloon? Circumnavigate breaks down to circum-, "around," and navigare, "to navigate." It was first used in the era when sailors were trying to find new lands they didn't know about, and so the "around" in question was the trip around the entire earth. We also use circumnavigate to describe going around something that's too hard to go through, like when you circumnavigate the massive crowds in Times Square on New Year's Eve.
Vocabulary lists containing circumnavigate
100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
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Around and Around: Circum
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Content Summary 4.1: Causes and Consequences of Iberian Maritime Exploration and Colonialism
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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:
But we have have found it is possible to circumnavigate these checks and trick Gemini into saying these fake Google Earth images are real.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. may hope they can circumnavigate the Islamic Republic by moving oil through new pipelines, but those pipelines will remain vulnerable to missiles and drones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Similar to the race to the moon, this mission to aerially circumnavigate the world required “uniquely American” coordination and teamwork across military, industry, political and diplomatic figures, said Boeing’s senior corporate historian, Michael Lombardi.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 13, 2024
Most locals agreed and tolerated the truck traffic rerouting through Carbonne to circumnavigate the roadblock, according to the mayor, Denis Turrel.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
In principle, such a journey, mounting the decimal points ever closer to the speed of light, would even permit us to circumnavigate the known universe in some fifty-six years ship time.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Crater Lake National Park announced Tuesday that it had shut down a portion of Rim Drive, the road that circumnavigates Oregon’s famous caldera, for the rest of the 2023 season.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
That’s how my wife, Selina, and I explored the area, following the signposted 168-mile Lake Constance Bike Route, which roughly circumnavigates the lake.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 24, 2022
The L.E.D. screen—sixty feet long and almost two stories tall—flashes with ads for Broadway plays, beer, and children’s movies, as the boat circumnavigates lower Manhattan.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 18, 2019
The open-air expedition circumnavigates the island’s undeveloped coastline — a mini safari in the middle of the Pacific.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2019
Jupiter" said John, as he leisurely rolled a cigarette, "circumnavigates the sun once while the earth goes around it twelve times.
From The Conquest The Story of a Negro Pioneer by Micheaux, Oscar
They dropped anchor off the coast of Shanghai on Dec. 3, having circumnavigated the globe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Ferdinand Magellan may have circumnavigated the globe, but he was not an expert on where he was going as he embarked upon the journey.
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2024
Frodo, on the other hand, circumnavigated the entire North Pacific—and, as Ransome would discover, he’s not alone.
From National Geographic ● Sep. 28, 2023
In that briefing, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman also revealed one balloon had circumnavigated the planet in 2019, travelling over Hawaii and Florida.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2023
Around 300, an explorer named Pytheas sailed a ship through the Straits of Gibraltar, turned north, and circumnavigated the British Isles.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
In circumnavigating distant seas, this majestic production recovers some lost treasure of childhood.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025
The businessman had long been passionate about flying, first taking pilot lessons in 2004 and later setting a world record for circumnavigating the world in a light jet.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2024
Rutherford is best known for being the first to complete a nonstop solo sail circumnavigating North and South America.
From Seattle Times ● May 15, 2023
Spain renewed its argument in 1522 when an expeditionary fleet that had been captained by Ferdinand Magellan returned to Europe after circumnavigating the globe.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
After Eratosthenes, some may have tried, but not until the time of Magellan did anyone succeed in circumnavigating the Earth.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
