afloat
Americanadverb
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floating or borne on the water; in a floating condition.
The ship was set afloat.
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on board a ship, boat, raft, etc.; at sea.
cargo afloat and ashore.
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covered with water; flooded; awash.
The main deck was afloat.
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moving without being guided or controlled; drifting.
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passing from place to place; in circulation.
A rumor is afloat.
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free of major trouble, especially financially solvent.
to keep a venture afloat.
adjective
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floating
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aboard ship; at sea
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covered with water; flooded
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aimlessly drifting
afloat in a sea of indecision
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in circulation; afoot
nasty rumours were afloat
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free of debt; solvent
Other Word Forms
- half-afloat adjective
Etymology
Origin of afloat
before 1000; Middle English, Old English on flote. See a- 1, float
Explanation
If something's afloat, it's drifting on the water. When you sail toy boats, you set them afloat across a pond or lake. You can set something afloat, like an inner tube in a pool or a leaf on a stream, or you can struggle to stay afloat, as when the passengers of a capsized boat try to keep their heads above water. In either case, being afloat means floating on the surface. The Old English word is aflote, from a Germanic root word.
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.
Handouts from the Soviet Union, bilateral lenders and Venezuela, which kept the country afloat for decades, are no more.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
That’s because if high-income shoppers scale back their spending, then the other horizontal lines of the “E” — the lower and middle classes — may not have enough spending power to keep the economy afloat.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
The ship also had a series of watertight compartments and could remain afloat if up to four were breached.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
All they can do is keep the ship afloat and hope for the best.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
He felt that the Company was too naked, afloat in little open boats in the midst of shelterless lands, and on a river that was the frontier of war.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
