levitate

American  

[lev-i-teyt] / ˈlɛv ɪˌteɪt /

verb (used without object)

• levitates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• levitated,
  past participle,  past
• levitating
  present participle

1. to rise or float in the air, especially as a result of a supernatural power that overcomes gravity.

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verb (used with object)

• levitates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• levitated,
  past participle,  past
• levitating
  present participle

1. to cause to rise or float in the air.

levitate British  

/ ˈlɛvɪˌteɪt /

verb

1. to rise or cause to rise and float in the air, without visible agency, attributed, esp formerly, to supernatural causes

2. (tr) med to support (a patient) on a cushion of air in the treatment of severe burns

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• levitation
  noun
• levitator
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• levitating
  present
• levitated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• levitate
  simple
• levitates
  simple
• have levitated
  perfect
• has levitated
  perfect
• am levitating
  progressive
• are levitating
  progressive
• is levitating
  progressive
• have been levitating
  perfect progressive
• has been levitating
  perfect progressive

Past

• levitated
  simple
• had levitated
  perfect
• was levitating
  progressive
• were levitating
  progressive
• had been levitating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will levitate
  simple
• will have levitated
  perfect
• will be levitating
  progressive
• will have been levitating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of levitate

1665–75; levit(y) + -ate ¹, modeled on gravitate

Explanation

To levitate is to float in the air, defying gravity. It also means to cause something to do that. With a magnetic force — or a magic wand — you might be able to make your teacher levitate above your classroom. Levitate comes from the Latin levis, meaning “light.” Something that is light can levitate easily. Magicians levitate things like pigs and snowmobiles and women as part of their shows. In architecture, certain structures can be raised or suspended so as to appear to levitate.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

levitate levitates levitated levitating

"We can levitate objects against gravity by immersing them in a sound field called a standing wave."

From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2026

Planetary scientists think that electrostatic forces generated from this interaction levitate dust or ice above the ring to form the spokes, though after several decades no theory perfectly predicts the spokes.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2023

It might run through your head as a young girl spreads jam on a piece of bread, or as a multitude of floating, smiling white puffballs, known as warawara, levitate blissfully skyward.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2023

It’s the spell you cast to levitate something.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 21, 2023

“Some in infancy; others not until they’re quite old. I once heard of a man who didn’t realize he could levitate objects with his mind until he was ninety-two years of age.”

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

Betye Saar practically levitates into the room wearing a Max Mara jacket that resembles a bird’s plumage, with a butter-yellow silk Dior dress grazing the ground behind her and a cane in her hand.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026

The South Korean researchers provided a video of what they say is LK-99 exhibiting the Meissner effect, but superconductors aren’t the only things that float above magnets—graphite, for example, also levitates.

From Scientific American ● Jul. 27, 2023

As he is dying, he levitates, at last free from the monstrous burden of flesh.

From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2023

The most striking is “Valor,” in which an orange rectangle levitates, ever so slightly off-center.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2022

Tano almost loses his balance, and he levitates in the air to steady himself.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

During tests, eggs released one after another with minimal effort; with a bit of oil, they practically levitated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025

Interest in AI has levitated shares of Nvidia, Broadcom, and their ilk, but also stoked fresh fears of an AI bubble.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025

Instead, he hit the game-winning home run, nearly levitated around first base, and became an October hero yet again.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2025

Above the racetrack, a handful of ytterbium ions are trapped and levitated by a train of electrical, radiofrequency, and laser pulses.

From Science Magazine ● May 30, 2024

They are levitated to another sealed box in Houston, to wait out their days in quarantine, while inoculated animals and tissues cultures are squinted at for omens.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Eventually, things get more obvious: a levitating wheelchair, some skittering around on the ceiling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026

Multiply rising earnings by a higher ratio of share price to earnings, and you get a levitating stock market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

But the grasping device was not physically connected to anything - it appeared to be levitating inside the person's body.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2024

The experiment, published in the Science Advances journal, used levitating magnets to detect gravity on microscopic particles -- small enough to boarder on the quantum realm.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 25, 2024

“Your elf’s scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can’t blame her for wanting to get out of their way!”

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling