1.Lit. to move slowly through water or air, gently. The boats floated through the water slowly and gracefully.As the clouds floated through the sky, they cast blotchy shadows on the ground.
2.Fig. [for someone] to move aimlessly through something. (As if semiconscious.) She has no ambition. She's just floating through life.He floated through his work that day. It is probably done all wrong.