Synonyms

swimmingly

American

[swim-ing-lee] / ˈswɪm ɪŋ li /

adverb

without difficulty; with great success; effortlessly.

She passed the exam swimmingly.

swimmingly British

/ ˈswɪmɪŋlɪ /

adverb

successfully, effortlessly, or well (esp in the phrase go swimmingly )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of swimmingly

1615–25; swimming (in sense “progressing smoothly”) + -ly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It was all going swimmingly on Monday, too, and the index was within touching distance of hitting the 8,000 mark.

From Barron's • May 12, 2026

But let’s also admit that his latest way of testing the patience of global oil consumers is so far going swimmingly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

There’s nothing like a Fed put to buttress markets, even if doubts exist this whole artificial-intelligence thing is going to work out swimmingly.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 24, 2025

"I guess they assume from social media that everything is always going swimmingly," muses Gareth.

From BBC • Oct. 31, 2023

“If things neural were going swimmingly with Vi, the number you detect would be about ninety- eight percent.”

From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023