Meaning & use
sway
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To move slowly from side to side, or to make something do this.
Grammar: Can have no object (the trees swayed) or one (the wind swayed the trees).
Patterns
- sway in the wind
- sway to the music
The palm trees swayed gently in the breeze.
Couples swayed to the slow song in the middle of the floor.
The tall crane swayed above the building site.
verbtransitive
To change someone's opinion or decision, or to influence it.
Grammar: Takes an object, often a person or a group like voters or a jury.
Patterns
- sway someone
- be swayed by something
Her speech swayed many undecided voters.
The jury was not swayed by the lawyer's emotional appeal.
I was swayed by the low price and bought the bigger model.
noununcountableformal
Power or influence over people or events.
Grammar: Often appears after hold or under: hold sway.
Patterns
- hold sway over someone
- under the sway of someone
The old chairman still held sway over the committee.
The young man fell under the sway of a charming friend.
Social media now has great sway over fashion.
nouncountable
A slow movement from side to side.
Grammar: Usually singular: the sway of the boat.
Patterns
- the sway of something
The gentle sway of the hammock sent her to sleep.
He felt the sway of the train as it rounded the bend.
The dancer's graceful sway drew every eye.
Word forms
| third person singular | sways |
|---|---|
| past tense | swayed |
| past participle | swayed |
| -ing form | swaying |
| plural | sways |
Common combinations
- sway gently
- The curtains swayed gently in the draft.
- sway voters
- The ad aimed to sway voters in the last week.
- hold sway
- Tradition still holds sway in the village.
- be swayed by
- Don't be swayed by flattery.
- sway to the music
- The crowd swayed to the music.
- under the sway of
- The team fell under the sway of a charismatic captain.
Synonyms and how they differ
- influence
- Influence is a general word for having an effect on someone, while sway stresses actually changing their mind.
- persuade
- Persuade means to convince someone with reasons, whereas sway can work through emotion or pressure.
- rock
- Rock describes a regular back-and-forth motion, often of a smaller object like a cradle.
- swing
- Swing involves a wider arc, usually from a fixed point.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sway or sweigh? sway or swag?
sway vs sweigh
This spelling does not exist in English; sway is the correct form of the word.
sway vs swag
Swag is slang for goods taken or free promotional items, and is unrelated to moving back and forth.
Practice
The senator was not ___ by the lobbyists and voted against the bill.
Choose one answer.
Be swayed by means to be influenced into changing a decision. Swelled means grew bigger, so it does not fit this context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sway”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.