Showing results for "meandering"

• present participle of meander.

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

• unmeandering
  adjective
• meanderingly
  adverb
• 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

See Examples For:

meandering

Penna, like so many of the government officials who appear in Oliver Basciano’s moving, if meandering, “Outcast: A History of Leprosy, Humanity, and the Modern World,” took action.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

The erratic ant was named for its "high-energy foraging behaviour which sees it scamper with meandering and unpredictable movements", she added.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

“A resort-style pool, tranquil lily ponds, meandering pathways, shaded terraces, and a full-size tennis court create moments of both recreation and quiet reflection, where the sounds of nature replace the pace of everyday life.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

After a campaign over hundreds of years saw rivers tamed for commercial use, he urged a shift back "toward natural rivers featuring meandering branches and floodplains that retain water across the landscape".

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

Carabayllo was a meandering, seemingly endless vista of poverty.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French