Coasted

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Moved smoothly or effortlessly, often downhill or on a surface without needing to use power or force ; advanced or succeeded in a task with little or no effort or struggle
2. Glided freely without resistance, especially descending a slope or moving on momentum ; achieved progress or results easily, without much active participation or hard work
3. Went forward with little to no exertion, typically using gravity or momentum to continue motion ; managed to continue or complete something with minimal effort or challenge

Etymology: "Coasted" is the past tense of "coast," and the verb's surprising route runs through the human body. Its ancestor is Latin "costa," meaning "rib" or "side," and English "coast" comes from Old French "coste," which carried the same sense of a rib or side of something, before it came to mean the edge of land where the sea meets it. The sense of a shore grew out of the idea of a land's flank. The verb is a separate branch. Middle English "costeien" meant to travel along a border, to go alongside something, or to skirt past it. It came through Old French "costoier," meaning "to be at the side of," from Latin "costicare," itself built on "costa." The verb's original sense was about moving beside an edge, not about gliding effortlessly. The modern sense of gliding without power, especially downhill, grew from the idea of moving along a shore or slope while letting momentum carry you, and figurative use for succeeding with little effort followed from that.

Synonyms: glided, drifted, slid, floated, sailed

Antonyms: struggled, labored, toiled