1
as in veered
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course
the car swerved sharply to avoid the squirrel in the road
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in curved
to turn away from a straight line or course
the bike path gently swerves to the right
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in arched
to cause to turn away from a straight line
a dog dashed out in front of me and made me swerve my bike to one side of the bike path
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in deviated
to change one's course or direction
the hurricane had been following the coastline before it swerved and headed inland
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of swerved
After a Tesla in Full Self-Driving mode suddenly swerved off of a busy highway and almost straight into a ditch, the owner of the vehicle praised the driving technology to high heaven for supposedly saving his skin.
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Frank Landymore, Futurism, 8 Jan. 2026
During the pursuit, the vehicle swerved all across four lanes of travel on North Telegraph Road at speeds ranging from 20 mph to 70 mph, the sheriff's office said.
—Paula Wethington, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
He was accused of driving recklessly — speeding and passing in a no-passing zone — when a motorist swerved to avoid Lacy and crashed into another vehicle.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 2 Jan. 2026
When Eba shuffled back to the left, Giles swerved again.
—Kelso Harper, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2025
The pickup had swerved from the street and hit a first-floor apartment.
—Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Dec. 2025
After the chase started, Martinez swerved to avoid the collision ICE agents wanted, Davis said.
—Julia Coin
november 26, Charlotte Observer, 26 Nov. 2025
The Raiders took Set 4, 25-18, thanks to a missile off the hand of Raiders junior middle blocker Leila Colvin swerved through the Storm’s block to send Cretin-Derham Hall through to the Class 3A semifinals.
—Andrew Cornelius, Twin Cities, 6 Nov. 2025
The Newcastle winger swerved in and out, with Diouf’s pressure half-hearted, and scored his second goal of the season.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swerved
Verb
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The Colorado Department of Transportation will try again on Monday to recover a snowplow that veered off a highway and became stuck earlier this week.—
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After the shots, the SUV veered into two parked cars.—
Verb
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In car design, that meant a short roof that curved downward, for a sleek stylish look that did not preclude four doors.—
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But by the early 19th century, some mathematicians had started exploring other kinds of geometric spaces — ones that aren’t flat but rather curved like a sphere or saddle.—
Verb
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Long, arched hallways lead to the guest rooms, restaurants, castle-like lounge spaces, and even an ancient cloister from the former monastery.—
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Your chest should be upright and your torso should be slightly forward so that your back is flat and not arched or rounded forward.—
Verb
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Travis Scott has deviated very little from drab colors on his Air Jordan 1s.—
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Everything should have been the same for Amorim at United in theory, except there was a curious moment on day one when the Portuguese deviated from the script.—
Verb
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Fran Drescher’s rave review sold me on the Nail System—and now everyone in my life is hooked.—
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Chelsea, who saw their prodigy Estevao swallowed up by the occasion and hooked at the break, had their doors blown off.—
Verb
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At the end of Monday's live Atlas demonstration, the humanoid prototype swung its arms in a theatrical gesture to introduce a static model of the new product version of Atlas, which looked slightly different and was blue in color.—
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The Chiefs’ special teams also never swung the field with a return for a touchdown.—
Verb
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As with the first two Knives Out movies, Netflix bowed the threequel at the Toronto Film Festival in September.—
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Several councils in major cities bowed to public pressure.—
Verb
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Bryant turned the ball over 17 times and allowed Jonesboro (13-7, 1-1) to score repeatedly in transition.—
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Owens turned herself into Long Beach police Wednesday, and she was booked on $200,000 bail.—
Cite this Entry
“Swerved.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swerved. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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