afar
adverb
from, at, or to a distance; far away (usually followed byoff ).
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Affan.
afar
1 American
[uh-fahr]
/ əˈfɑr /
adverb
idioms
Afar
2
American
[ah-fahr]
/ ˈɑ fɑr /
noun
-
Afars,
plural
-
Afara,
plural
-
Afar
plural
-
a member of a nomadic Muslim people living in Eritrea, Djibouti, and northern Ethiopia.
-
the Northern Cushitic language spoken by the Afars.
afar
British
/ əˈfɑː /
adverb
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Watching from afar, he believes England have the talent to improve on an erratic 2025-26 campaign.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
They admired one another from afar, brushed shoulders only in passing, and, in some ways, represented opposing ways of challenging the limits placed on women in indie rock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
"If a galaxy were a city, the brightest stars would be the skyscrapers that immediately catch your eye from afar," said lead author Chloe Cheng, a recent doctoral graduate of Leiden University.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026
From afar, the Sagrada Família, shrouded in mist, appears otherworldly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Even then, Suzanne was like a sister whose life I could only track from afar, across the gulf of our inherent differences.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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
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
In 2026, a University of Chicago led team reported a 2.6 million year old Paranthropus jaw from Ethiopia's Afar region.
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 off there clink the polychrome points of the stars, Indefatigable, after all these years!
From Irradiations; Sand and Spray by John Gould Fletcher
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
Neighboring Ethiopia, which contains large numbers of Afars, backs the tribe's cause in French Somaliland.
From Time Magazine Archive
The trouble was that they were registered to vote in fewer numbers than the Afars, a rival tribe that wants to stay tied to France.
From Time Magazine Archive
Afars and Issas, in short, is not even a nice place to visit.
From Time Magazine Archive
"To disarm them all is unacceptable to the Afars," Meles explains.
From Time Magazine Archive
A peace accord in 1994 ended a three-year uprising by Afars rebels.
From The 2001 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
