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Glite Dictionary
🌊 To move in waves 🎶 To rise and fall 🍃 Wavy-edged
to undulate

to undulate

10 7.7
To move in smooth waves like tall grass in the wind
  • verb
  • /ˈʌndʒəˌleɪt/
translation icon : ondular
  • Like some primeval sea, the shrouds undulate in the breeze admitted through the open doors.
  • undulating terrain
  • undulating landscape
  • undulating walls

And that's pretty constant, whereas they should be, you know, kind of undulating between that range.

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Examples

  • As the boat moved through the water, the waves undulated rhythmically around it.

  • Along the blade's edge was a pattern of red and silver steel, undulating like the flowing movement of waves.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • It's moving into a very, very gentle, undulating energy within your soul.

  • Far off in the distance, a wall is undulating with shifting rays of light.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • "In the distance, the ocean undulated with increasing fervor."

    Meatballs (1979)

  • There was nothing else, only the desert, undulating like a slack, shallow sea.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Below them, a sea of red gowns and square caps undulated in the mild wind.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Spontaneously, she had the vision of a structure with undulating or wavy walls.

    Academic text (1994)

  • A short rock scramble brings us to a gently undulating sagebrush plain.

    Academic text (2008)

  • There is no obstacle to the remorseless horizon, just miles of undulating dunes.

    Fiction book (1996)

Synonyms

to roll
vsto undulate
∞ 1.0

To move across the sky or land with a smooth swaying motion

move in flowing curved patterns rather than turning over or rolling
to wave
vsto undulate
64 1.0

To move with a smooth up and down motion, like a flag or the sea

move in smoother flowing curving motion rather than simple rises and falls
to ripple
vsto undulate
49 2.7

To move in small waves on water when wind blows

move in broader smooth rising and falling motion rather than tiny surface movements
to ruffle
vsto undulate
7 4.2

Disturb a smooth surface so small waves appear

produce smooth regular curving motion instead of rough uneven disturbance
to riffle
vsto undulate
1 7.6

To make small ripples on water by moving it slightly

cause broader smooth curving motion rather than only slight surface stirring
to vacillate
vsto undulate
1 8.4

To move slowly back and forth like a boat or kite

move in smooth curving motion rather than irregular back and forth sway
to cockle
vsto undulate
9.5

To make a surface form small waves or ripples

form continuous smooth curved patterns rather than local wrinkles or creases

Antonyms

to stagnate
19 6.8

To stop growing or changing and stay the same, like water in a pond

How Wavy

to surge
57 4.1
to billow
27 5.3
to undulate
10 7.7
to ripple
49 2.7

Surface Forms

undulate infinitive
undulated past
undulated past participle
undulating present participle
undulates third person singular

Etymology

The word undulate comes from the Latin unda, which means 'wave', the same root you see in the word inundate ('to flood'). Picture a field or a flag moving like water waves, rising and falling smoothly, and you will see why undulate means 'move in a smooth, wavy way'.