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

And that’s important because, the author tells us, for our naturally “phantasmagoric” minds, the meandering state feeds our imaginations and stokes creativity.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Condos, like other properties, shot up in value earlier in the pandemic but have been moving sideways in L.A. for the last two years, with the median price meandering around $700,000 for a two-bedroom condominium.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026

There's a lot of flakiness in their make-up, possibly too many players spending too much time meandering through games.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026

Since then, the 79-year-old Republican has rarely missed an opportunity to discuss the project, frequently meandering in mid-speech on other topics to riff about the architectural details of the proposed facility.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

When it continued to zag she realized the pilot was following a meandering river where game wintered.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George