circumnavigate
Americanverb (used with object)
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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:
“What I was doing was using my abilities as an artist to circumnavigate their attempt at exercising their power and preventing me from using this exchange as material in my practice.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 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
This year’s event will have tweaks beyond the new date: Participants will cycle clockwise for the first time, starting and ending in Enumclaw as they circumnavigate Mount Rainier.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 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
It would take more than the age of the universe for light to circumnavigate it.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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 route circumnavigates Bainbridge Island, earning its reputation along the way, particularly as riders are forced up the mountainous Baker Hill on the island’s south end.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 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
The voyager who circumnavigates it spends no inconsiderable portion of his life in accomplishing his task.
From Library of the World's Best literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 12 by Various
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
Over the past two weeks, I have circumnavigated the globe by land, air and sea.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 5, 2023
Just like in an old videogame, the scenery never changed on Archaide, even if you circumnavigated the globe.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Sella's Himalayan journey began in 1899 when he joined British explorer Douglas Freshfield on an expedition circumnavigating Kanchenjunga.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2025
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
Kelsey was most recently working on a new book, translating the account of a person who was on the ship with the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan when he was circumnavigating the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 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.
