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Glite Dictionary
to go swimmingly

to go swimmingly

5 5.0
To progress very smoothly without any problems
  • phrasal verb
: ir de maravilla
  • Our project has been going swimmingly, with no delays or issues so far.
  • things are going swimmingly
  • Even if everything goes swimmingly
  • going swimmingly well

The TikTok is finished, Production went swimmingly, and now it is done.

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Examples

  • Today's art project and lesson went swimmingly for all classes (including 4th period sans Ryan).

    Blog text (12)

  • We've done this test a couple of times, and everything's going swimmingly except for one thing: performance is lower than we'd expect.

    Blog text (28)

  • It's my third day, going swimmingly, if I may say so myself.

    Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)

  • Oh, everything seems to be going swimmingly, my Lord.

    Shanghai Knights (2003)

  • I think it went swimmingly today.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • So, it's all going swimmingly.

    Blog text (4)

  • And hopefully everything will go swimmingly.

    Marie Antoinette (2006)

  • While the launch is, by all accounts, going swimmingly, things have changed drastically since 2006.

    Blog text (29)

  • Everything went swimmingly.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • So, l trust everything's going swimmingly with our acquisition of Average Joe's?

    DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004)

Synonyms

to sail through
vsto go swimmingly
  • Informal
11 3.7

To succeed very easily at a task or exam

is about steady smooth progress without problems rather than instant success
to breeze through
vsto go swimmingly
  • Informal
6 3.6

To succeed at something quickly and easily

focuses on moving smoothly without problems rather than quick completion

Antonyms

to fail
∞ 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

struggle
417 3.2

A hard effort to do or finish something difficult

How Well

to go swimmingly
5 5.0
to succeed
827 2.0
to go sour
19 4.1
to fail
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

go swimmingly infinitive
went swimmingly past
gone swimmingly past participle
going swimmingly present participle
goes swimmingly third person singular

Morphology

go + swimmingly

The adverb 'swimmingly' clearly means 'in a successful and effortless manner', so when combined with 'go' (to progress or unfold) the composite meaning 'to progress very well' is directly derivable. This is a standard verb + manner-adverb pattern that is predictable and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand it.

Etymology

One popular story says the expression go swimmingly comes from the picture of moving easily through water: imagine a swimmer or small boat moving smoothly without effort. So, when things go swimmingly they 'turn out well' and 'have no problems'.