Sway Definition

swā
swayed, swaying, sways
verb
swayed, swaying, sways
To swing or move from side to side or to and fro.
Webster's New World
To cause to vacillate.
Webster's New World
To vacillate or alternate between one position, opinion, etc. and another.
Webster's New World
To lean or incline to one side; veer.
Webster's New World
To cause to swing or move from side to side.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
noun
sways
A swaying or being swayed; movement to the side; a swinging, leaning, fluctuation, etc.
Webster's New World
Influence, force, or control.
Moved by the sway of passion.
Webster's New World
Sovereign power or authority; rule; dominion.
Webster's New World

Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side; as, the sway of desires.

I doubt I'll hold much sway with someone so powerful.
Wiktionary
Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
Wiktionary
idiom
hold sway
  • to reign or prevail
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Sway

Noun

Singular:
sway
Plural:
sways

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Sway

Origin of Sway

  • Earlier swey (“to fall, swoon"), from Middle English sweyen, from Old Norse sveigja (“to bend, bow"), from Proto-Germanic *swaigijanÄ… (compare Saterland Frisian swooie (“to swing, wave, wobble"), Dutch zwaaien, Dutch Low Saxon sweuen (“to sway in the wind"), from Proto-Indo-European *swaig- (compare Lithuanian svaÄ©gti (“to become giddy or dizzy"), the second element of Avestan [script?] (pairi-Å¡xuaxta, “to surround"), Sanskrit [script?] (svájate, “he embraces, enfolds")). Cognate to Proto-Slavic *čьvati «swell, become bigger», Old Greek κυέω (kyéo, “become pregnant").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English sweien probably of Scandinavian origin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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