Floater

/ˈfləʊtə/ noun, slang

noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A person who floats.; A person who physically floats in a gas or liquid.
  • Grammar: floater is listed as noun, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: adjustable rate bond, ahasuerus, ancient mariner, argonaut.
  • Useful contrasts: clear vision, fixed rate bond, fixed staff.
  • Usage evidence: Great God of VVaters [i.e., Neptune], vvhoſe extended Svvay / Is next to his, vvhom Heav'n and Earth obey: / Let not the Suit of Venus thee diſpleaſe, / Pity the Floaters on th' Ionian Seas.

How to use "floater"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "floater" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "floater" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "floater" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "floater" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "floater" is acting as noun, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "adjustable rate bond" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "floater", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who floats.; A person who physically floats in a gas or liquid.

    "Great God of VVaters [i.e., Neptune], vvhoſe extended Svvay / Is next to his, vvhom Heav'n and Earth obey: / Let not the Suit of Venus thee diſpleaſe, / Pity the Floaters on th' Ionian Seas."

  2. 2
    an insurance policy covering loss of movable property (e.g. jewelry) regardless of its location wordnet
  3. 3
    A person who floats.; A person who physically floats in a gas or liquid.; A corpse floating in a body of water. slang

    "A dock worker saw him floating against a dock pier and called the police. Condition of the body they thought a floater that had been hit by a boat and cut by the prop."

  4. 4
    an object that floats or is capable of floating wordnet
  5. 5
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; A person who frequently changes where they live; a drifter, a vagrant. figuratively
Show 29 more definitions
  1. 6
    a swimmer who floats in the water wordnet
  2. 7
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; A person who frequently changes employment. figuratively
  3. 8
    a voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election wordnet
  4. 9
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; An employee of an organization who does not have fixed tasks to do but fills in wherever needed, usually when someone else is away; also, a short-term employee; a temporary, a temp. figuratively

    "'The murdered girl was working for us, for the department.' / 'A floater?' / 'No. Permanent; warranty contract; the lot.'"

  5. 10
    an employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed wordnet
  6. 11
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; An "extra" (male) guest at a party who is asked by the host to entertain the other (often female) guests. figuratively
  7. 12
    a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support wordnet
  8. 13
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; A person who attaches themselves to a group of people, and who repeatedly shows up at group activities even though this is undesired by the group; a hanger-on. figuratively, slang
  9. 14
    a debt instrument with a variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate (e.g. the rate paid by T-bills) wordnet
  10. 15
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; A voter who shifts their allegiance from one political party to another, especially (US) one whose vote can be illegally purchased. figuratively
  11. 16
    spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humor and lens wordnet
  12. 17
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; A person who votes illegally in various electoral districts or polling places, either under a false voter registration or under the name of a properly registered voter who has not yet voted. US, figuratively
  13. 18
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; A person, such as a delegate to a convention or a member of a legislature, who represents an irregular constituency, such as one formed by a union of the voters of two counties neither of which has a number sufficient to be allowed one (or an extra) representative of its own. US, figuratively
  14. 19
    A person who floats.; A person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role.; A player not affiliated with a team. figuratively
  15. 20
    A thing which floats.; A thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid.; A river mussel (genus Anodonta).
  16. 21
    A thing which floats.; A thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid.; A small suet dumpling put into soup.

    "About an hour later a ration lorry found them, and the men were woken again, this time to a good meal of bully stew and floaters – suet dumplings – followed by cold rice pudding with jam."

  17. 22
    A thing which floats.; A thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid.; A piece of faeces which floats. vulgar

    "He left a floater in the toilet."

  18. 23
    A thing which floats.; A thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid.; A threadlike speck in the visual field which seems to move, possibly caused by degeneration of the vitreous humour of the eye.
  19. 24
    A thing which floats.; A thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid.; A ball that moves lightly through the air, as if floating; specifically (basketball), an early layup taken by a player moving towards the rim where, upon release, the ball floats in the air over the top of a defender before dropping softly into the hoop.

    "The floater is a high arcing shot that is commonly used to get the ball over taller defenders in the paint."

  20. 25
    A thing which floats.; A thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid.; Ellipsis of pie floater (“a meat pie served floating in a bowl of thick green pea soup”). Australia, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
  21. 26
    A thing which floats.; A thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid.; A waterproof sandal. India

    "Replace your leather sandals with rubber slippers, sandals or floaters. They don't soak water well and why in this world would you want to spoil your expensive leather footwear in puddles?"

  22. 27
    A thing which floats.; A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.; A mistake or misstep; a faux pas. dated, figuratively, slang

    "Suddenly, for no reason, in the middle of the night, or even in the middle of the jolliest party, she would remember an ancient floater—just like that, à propos de bottes—would remember and be overcome by a feeling of self-reproach and retrospective shame. […] One could do one's best; but one could never really persuade oneself that the floater hadn't happened. Imagination might struggle to annihilate the odious memory; but it never had power to win a decisive victory."

  23. 28
    A thing which floats.; A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.; Clipping of floating rate bond. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, figuratively
  24. 29
    A thing which floats.; A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.; An insurance policy covering movable property at more than one location or which may be in transit. figuratively
  25. 30
    A thing which floats.; A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.; A book circulated between prisoners which is not part of the official prison library. figuratively, slang

    "One prisoner came to me and asked if I had anything to read. As I hadn’t, he said he would bring me some reading. The next day he arrived with two serious books under his shirt. ‘Floaters’ [i.e. unofficially circulated books] had also come into the prison: you could either find them in the library, or they would be given to someone else to keep away from the screws—they were never openly visible."

  26. 31
    A thing which floats.; A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.; A manoeuvre in which a surfer transitions above the unbroken face of a wave on to the lip, or on top of the breaking section of the wave. figuratively
  27. 32
    A thing which floats.; A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.; A spinning delivery of the ball that travels in a high arched path. figuratively
  28. 33
    A thing which floats.; A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.; A coin which does not spin when thrown in the air. figuratively

    "[Rule] 477.(1) The boxer for a game of triple penny two-up, or a floor manager, may declare a spin invalid if the spin is a floater. […] [Rule 477.](6) In this section—"floater" means a spin in which at least 1 of the coins does not turn over in the air at least once."

  29. 34
    A thing which floats.; A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.; A criminal sentence which is suspended so long as the convicted person leaves an area. US, figuratively

    "["]Suppose I should tell you that there's a permanent order in the sheriff's office, left there by the old sheriff, that if I ever use your name or admit I'm your wife I'll get a floater out of the county and out of the state. Does that tempt you?" / "Tempt me to do what?" / "To get me floated and take all the money.""

Synonyms

All synonyms
adjustable rate bondahasuerusancient marinerargonautballot-box stufferballoter

Antonyms

clear visionfixed rate bondfixed stafffixed-rate security

Example

"Great God of VVaters [i.e., Neptune], vvhoſe extended Svvay / Is next to his, vvhom Heav'n and Earth obey: / Let not the Suit of Venus thee diſpleaſe, / Pity the Floaters on th' Ionian Seas."

Common questions

What does "floater" mean?

A person who floats.; A person who physically floats in a gas or liquid.

What is a synonym for "floater"?

Common synonyms include: adjustable rate bond, ahasuerus, ancient mariner, argonaut, ballot-box stuffer, balloter.

How do you use "floater" in a sentence?

Great God of VVaters [i.e., Neptune], vvhoſe extended Svvay / Is next to his, vvhom Heav'n and Earth obey: / Let not the Suit of Venus thee diſpleaſe, / Pity the Floaters on th' Ionian Seas.

How do you pronounce "floater"?

Pronounced /ˈfləʊtə/.

Etymology

From float + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). Compare Old English flota (“boat, ship", also "sailor, pirate”, literally “floater”), whence Middle English flote (“a fleet of ships", also, "a float, flotation device”).

More for "floater"

Synonyms

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