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Glite Dictionary
to go swimmingly

to go swimmingly

4 5.0
To progress very smoothly without any problems
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : 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
5 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
5 3.6

To succeed at something quickly and easily

focuses on moving smoothly without problems rather than quick completion

Antonyms

to fail
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

struggle
466 3.2

A hard effort to do or finish something difficult

How Well

to go swimmingly
4 5.0
to succeed
846 2.0
to go sour
17 4.1
to fail
898 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'.