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

Today, after a meandering back and forth about the character, she admits, “I suppose I still need to gather my own point of view on her.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

Instead it sent him on empty assignments, like meandering the vacuous desert sprawl.

From Slate • Feb. 2, 2026

“The Housemaid” stumbles, and it doesn’t help that Sweeney spends much of the film meandering throughout its narrative like a piece of driftwood that keeps washing back onto the shore.

From Salon • Jan. 31, 2026

At the start of his one hour and 12 minute meandering address, President Trump boasted that at home "people are very happy with me".

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026

Celaena didn’t hear him, and though they talked for a good hour afterward meandering through the grounds, she couldn’t get her heart to calm.

From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas