go with the flow

Idioms

Also, go with the tide. Move along with the prevailing forces, accept the prevailing trend, as in Rather than striking out in new directions, I tend to go with the flow, or Pat isn't particularly original; she just goes with the tide. The flow in the first and more colloquial term, which dates from the late 1900s, alludes to the ebb and flow of tides and probably gained currency because of its appealing rhyme.

Example Sentences

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go with the flow

“From day one we realized this was out of our control, we would go with the flow and stay optimistic and positive about it,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

While you want to go with the flow, it seems like you don’t trust the maid of honor to finalize the trip details.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 29, 2026

She says she will just "go with the flow and gradually explore what I really want to do".

From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2025

Dymek, perhaps best known for creating a movie around a donkey’s perspective in the Oscar-nominated international feature “EO,” knew to go with the flow.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2024

I go with the flow toward my locker.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

go with the flow

Example Sentences

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