as in aviator
one who flies or is qualified to fly an aircraft or spacecraft
the airline is seeking experienced pilots to fly the new airplane
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in experimental
made or done as an experiment
a new pilot program to train inner-city residents for jobs in the tech sector
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to guide
to give advice and instruction to (someone) regarding the course or process to be followed
piloted the figure skater through the national championships
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to steer
to point out the way for (someone) especially from a position in front
the lead rider piloted the rest of the team
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pilot
Josh Dinner, Space.com, 10 Jan. 2026
Both pilots survived the crash.
—Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 9 Jan. 2026
Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
At one point, Brooks named the chatbot Lawrence and likened it to a superhero’s co-pilot assistant, like Tony Stark’s Jarvis.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 12 Jan. 2026
And as technology has evolved, proposals for interstellar spacecraft have become more miniaturized and automated, eliminating much of the need for human oversight (and even astronauts to pilot them).
—Matthew S Williams, Interesting Engineering, 10 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pilot
Noun
Cardman will command the Dragon flight home with Fincke as pilot.
—Adjective
And above all, treat it as a co-pilot, not an autopilot.
—Verb
According to its current steward’s evidence, chassis No 1006 was the car piloted to overall victory at the 1921 Italian Grand Prix.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for pilot
Noun
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Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is the mission commander with aviator John Shoffner as pilot and two mission specialist seats paid for by the Saudi Space Commission, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni.—
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Klum wore the same ensemble but swapped her aviators for rectangular brown frames.—
Adjective
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The result is both the band’s most experimental and cohesive record to date, a mass of cosmic krautrock, dreary ambient synths, and eerie avant-garde touches that guarantee any conventional song structure or form could never take root.—
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However, that view has now been overturned by experimental evidence.—
Verb
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Several Venezuela residents told TIME that the fear of what might be discovered on their phone at a checkpoint has guided their behavior in the days since Maduro's ouster.—
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Since launch, mission teams have guided the observatory steadily toward L1.—
Verb
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That means the rider can steer the elephant, but only if the elephant is willing.—
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Back on the bridge, captain Nærbø steers the Polaris through the same fjords Norwegian ships have navigated for generations.—
Adjective
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Player retention is never going to dominate headlines like player acquisition during college’s version of free agency, but TCU head coach Sonny Dykes has stuck to his vision of wanting the Horned Frogs to be a developmental program.—
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Changes in physical traits like these can arise through multiple pathways, including genetic evolution, developmental plasticity, or selection acting on existing variation within a population.—
Verb
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Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff became the third head coach in NHL history to coach 1,900 regular-season games.—
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The only reasonable, logical explanation to Indiana University’s success in football is not coaching, but cheating.—
Verb
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To compound the surreal mood, Petro’s office issued a meme that showed a bald eagle snuggling up to a jaguar.—
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These stories show how contemporary Greeks came to understand and embed Phoenicians, their culture and practices into their mythology.—
Adjective
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens.—
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Police said in a news release that investigators were conducting follow-up interviews, collecting and analyzing evidence, and reviewing available video and other investigative leads in an effort to identify and locate all involved parties.—
Cite this Entry
“Pilot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pilot. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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