afar

¹

[ uh-fahr ]

adverb

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

   He saw the castle afar off.

Afar

²

[ ah-fahr ]

noun

, plural A·fars, A·fa·ra [uh, -, fahr, -, uh], (especially collectively) A·far

1. a member of a nomadic Muslim people living in Eritrea, Djibouti, and northern Ethiopia.
2. the Northern Cushitic language spoken by the Afars.

afar

/ əˈfɑː /

adverb

1. at, from, or to a great distance

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of afar¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of afar¹

C14: a fer, altered from earlier on fer and of fer; see a- ², far

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. from afar, from a long way off:

   The princess saw him riding toward her from afar.

Example Sentences

From afar their lives look lush and full, surrounded by beautiful people in beautiful places, simply because the job demands it.

From Vox

They can also be delayed to accommodate the needs and considerations of close relatives traveling in from afar.

From No Straight News

The program was initially approved in 2016 as a way to dim lights from afar and save on energy costs while counting cars and collecting environmental data.

From Voice of San Diego

You can also look for local businesses you can support from afar, or see if you can volunteer for a non-profit like the Red Cross.

From Popular-Science

With employees working remotely for the last several months and productivity levels still on par with normal in-person activities, agency executives say that they are changing their minds on having employees work from afar.

From Digiday

The team tracked individuals from afar to get a sense of their behavior.

From The Daily Beast

“Letters to Afar” demonstrates how ordinary the victims were.

From The Daily Beast

If ever there was a time for a show like “Letters to Afar” to be shown in Budapest, it is now.

From The Daily Beast

But the big question, of course, was how closely Russia watched from afar.

From The Daily Beast

On May 20, a pickup truck drove to an Iraqi army checkpoint in the city of Tal Afar.

From The Daily Beast

They sat in the hall and cried; the black-haired boy looking on from afar.

From Project Gutenberg

At this point Harry entered and stood afar off, eying Punch, a disheveled heap in the corner of the room, with disgust.

From Project Gutenberg

In France these reports would have been impersonal messages arriving from afar.

From Project Gutenberg

All who are in him, though once like those, who were sometimes afar off, are made nigh by his blood.

From Project Gutenberg

Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the south country.

From Project Gutenberg