sway

CEFRB2

/ˈsweɪ̯/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To move slowly from side to side.

  2. 02

    verb

    To influence someone's opinion or decision.

Examples

  • Tall buildings may sway in a strong wind.

  • Nothing could sway his conviction.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈswæ̝ɪ̯/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. A rocking or swinging motion.

  2. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side

noun

Extra meaning

  1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.

More examples

In context

  • I doubt I'll hold much sway with someone so powerful.

  • The old song caused a little sway in everyone in the room.

  • sway to the music

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The tall trees began to blank violently in the strong wind.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From earlier swey (“to fall, swoon”), from Middle English sweyen, from Old English *swǣġan (“to bend, bow”), from Proto-West Germanic *swaigijan, from Proto-Germanic *swaigijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁- See also Saterland Frisian swooie (“to swing, wave, wobble”); also Lithuanian svai̇̃gti (“to become giddy or dizzy”), the second element of Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌-𐬱𐬑𐬎𐬀𐬑𐬙𐬀 (paⁱri-šxuaxta, “to surround”), Sanskrit स्वजते (svájate, “he embraces, enfolds”). The noun derived from the verb.