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• afar
  afar

  adverb

  from, at, or to a distance; far away (usually followed byoff ).
• Afar
  Afar

  noun

  a member of a nomadic Muslim people living in Eritrea, Djibouti, and northern Ethiopia.

afar

¹ American  

[uh-fahr] / əˈfɑr /

adverb

1. from, at, or to a distance; far away (usually followed byoff ).

   He saw the castle afar off.

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idioms

1. from afar, from a long way off.

   The princess saw him riding toward her from afar.

Afar ² American  

[ah-fahr] / ˈɑ fɑr /

noun

• Afars,
  plural
• Afara,
  plural
• Afar
  plural

1. a member of a nomadic Muslim people living in Eritrea, Djibouti, and northern Ethiopia.

2. the Northern Cushitic language spoken by the Afars.

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afar British  

/ əˈfɑː /

adverb

1. at, from, or to a great distance

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noun

1. a great distance (esp in the phrase from afar )

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Afar
  plural
• Afara
  plural
• Afars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of afar

1125–75; Middle English a fer, on ferr; replacing Old English feorran. See a- ¹ (perhaps also a- ² for the meaning “from”), far

Explanation

If something's off at a distance, you can describe it as being afar. You might write a letter to your pen pal in Japan, and say, "This note comes to you from afar." Afar is a poetic and old-fashioned way to say "far away" or "distant." If your summer visitors have traveled from afar, they've come a long way to see you, and if your boyfriend moves to Australia, you might have to continue your relationship from afar. The word is a shortened form of the Old English of feor, in which of means "of" or "on," and feor is "far, remote, or distant."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

afar Afar Afara Afars

I’m not saying to try to diagnose her from afar; in fact, a manager asking an employee about their health can be illegal in certain situations.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

Visitors will enter via a mezzanine which means they will be able to see the entire length of the work in one go from afar.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Many Venezuelans abroad are searching from afar for family members among the nearly 2,300 dead and tens of thousands missing.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

But it’s exciting to view from afar, isn’t it?

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

‘Rohan? Rohan did you say? That is a glad word. We seek that land in haste from long afar.’

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Umer, the cattle herder in Afar, said he was worried that an outbreak of disease could start killing his adult camels anytime now.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

The Afar region of north-eastern Ethiopia is one of the hottest and driest places on Earth, where nomads often lead camel caravans carrying salt through the desert.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Ethiopia's Afar region remains an active rifting zone, shaped by tectonic forces and volcanic eruptions.

From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026

This massive system extends from the Afar Depression in northeastern Ethiopia all the way to Mozambique, separating the African tectonic plate from the Arabian and Somali plates.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2026

Afar in a forest nook she rests, where wildwood creatures pass by, the pine trees wave and the stars sweep over, waiting, watching for the Day toward which the whole creation moves.

From Blazing The Way True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget Sound by Denny, Emily Inez

Afara Lalaind, who filed her civil complaint Thursday at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown L.A., also alleges her reputation “has been ruined” and her chance for advancement is gone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024

Signing up are the proud, aggressive Angelus Lipahi and the earnest, hardworking Ezekiel Afara, both inspired by glossy magazine images of surfing superstars.

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2012

Afars and Issas, in short, is not even a nice place to visit.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the case of the Afars, for instance, he has asked the elders to designate which tribesmen should be armed.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mengistu also faces the possibility of war with Somalia for control of the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, whose 215,000 citizens last week voted for independence.*

From Time Magazine Archive

Neighboring Ethiopia, which contains large numbers of Afars, backs the tribe's cause in French Somaliland.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unrest among the Afars minority during the 1990s   led to multi-party elections resulting in President Ismail Omar   GUELLEH attaining office in May 1999.

From The 2004 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency