meandering

American  

[mee-an-der-ing] / miˈæn dər ɪŋ /

adjective

1. taking a winding or indirect course.

   The city of Budapest is divided into two parts by the meandering Danube River, spanned by several stunning bridges.

2. wandering aimlessly; proceeding seemingly without direction; rambling.

   I'm unsure how I will condense a meandering narrative of my experiences into a thirty-second elevator pitch.

   Things proceed in a meandering way between them, until suddenly their relationship comes to a devastatingly emotional climax.

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noun

1. the act of wandering or proceeding aimlessly or by a winding or indirect course.

   I digress—but I blame it on the mental meandering of age.

   After a coffee and some meandering among the displays on the hotel mezzanine, I left the convention.

Other Word Forms

• meanderingly
  adverb
• unmeandering
  adjective
• unmeanderingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of meandering

First recorded in 1610–20; meander ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; meander ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun sense

Example Sentences

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are meandering at 11-17 entering Monday night’s game versus Toronto, currently stuck at the bottom of the menu in the American League.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Whether Tuesday’s rebound marks the entrance to that path, or another meandering trail of foggy wartime reactions, remains to be seen.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

But this section is where the album drifts into mediocrity, with a handful of meandering, mid-tempo love songs that don't really add much to the overall package.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

But a handful still survive — routes that don’t carve a straight line but follow the meandering, undulating contours of the land.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026

Three of the volcanic craters had thin ribbons of smoke lazily curling from their insides and meandering toward the sky.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill