How to Use autopilot in a Sentence

autopilot

noun
Definition of autopilotnext
  • The plane was flying on autopilot.
  • The smarter move may be to take ourselves out of the equation and switch on the autopilot.
    — J.j. McCorvey, WSJ, 9 May 2022
  • All of those things are kind of on autopilot through this year.
    — Tim Fernholz, Quartz, 17 Sep. 2020
  • On the other, the plane was on autopilot almost the whole way.
    — The Economist, 11 June 2020
  • Akopov said the plane's autopilot was taken out by the hail, the Sun reports.
    — Cliff Pinckard, cleveland.com, 1 Aug. 2017
  • Clearly, the team had more work to do on the vessel’s autopilot.
    — Vanessa Minke-Martin, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Nov. 2020
  • Thanks to the autopilot mode, younger children can use this boat with ease, too.
    — Douglas Helm, Popular Mechanics, 3 Aug. 2022
  • Let go of life on autopilot and start to take control of your own destiny!
    — Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Dec. 2022
  • On autopilot, the drone tried to fly back to the Ukrainian position.
    — Andrew E. Kramer, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Aug. 2022
  • My mind was beginning to be too much for me and my body was on autopilot.
    — Essence, 22 Aug. 2022
  • For the first time, conditions were calm enough to rely on the autopilot.
    — Tomas Weber, Rolling Stone, 18 May 2024
  • The plane flew on autopilot for four hours and crashed near Aberdeen, South Dakota.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 5 June 2023
  • There's no autopilot in a Super Guppy, and the rule is one hour flying then a break.
    — Lee Roop, AL.com, 11 July 2017
  • But there's a lot of dangers as well -- autopilot being one of them, doing the same old same old.
    — Gary Graff, Billboard, 2 Feb. 2018
  • The vessel has no driver, though; it's set to autopilot.
    — Matt Cabral, EW.com, 11 Nov. 2021
  • While the team hasn’t been on autopilot since, the Lady Mustangs have rarely been tested.
    — Ted Dunnam, Houston Chronicle, 6 Mar. 2020
  • There's just one problem with wearing the hue over and over and that's that guys tend to go on autopilot when getting dressed.
    — GQ, 1 Mar. 2018
  • That which was once autopilot now requires us to keep our hands on the wheel and pay attention.
    — Natasha Preskey, refinery29.com, 3 May 2020
  • Strasser sat behind the wheel, which was set to autopilot.
    — oregonlive, 13 Mar. 2021
  • Of those 41 minutes, 37 were spent with the autopilot enabled.
    — Brian Fung, Alaska Dispatch News, 20 June 2017
  • The angelic-looking thing did all this on the autopilot in the back of his heavenly mind.
    — Riley Van Steward, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2023
  • Advertisement Jack raised his sails, turned on the autopilot and tried to sleep.
    — Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2024
  • But don’t go on autopilot and run it through your coffee by mistake!
    — Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2021
  • The question is how long firms will remain on autopilot.
    — The Economist, 9 Sep. 2017
  • Sure-footed, diesel-powered, on autopilot to our port of call.
    — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 21 May 2022
  • The plane had broken up in the air because of an autopilot malfunction.
    — Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2022
  • According to Red Bull, the planes were placed on autopilot and the engines were turned off in midair while the pilots attempted the swap.
    — Bymichelle Stoddart, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2022
  • Japan’s central bank has been largely on autopilot for a few years.
    — William Pesek, Forbes, 17 June 2022
  • To enable autonomous flight, the team fitted the robot with two propellers and an off-the-shelf drone autopilot called Pixracer.
    — Ars Technica, 27 Nov. 2024
  • That doesn’t mean ignoring risks and investing on autopilot.
    — Paulina Likos, CNBC, 29 Nov. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'autopilot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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