space cadet

See synonyms for: space cadetspace cadets on Thesaurus.com

nounSlang.
  1. a person who appears to be in their own world or out of touch with reality.

  2. a person who behaves oddly or seems stupefied or remote because of the influence of drugs; druggie.

Origin of space cadet

1
1950–55, for sense “spaceman trainee”

Words Nearby space cadet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use space cadet in a sentence

  • He knew the pirate would not take defeat at the hands of a space cadet easily.

  • But no one had ever remembered a space cadet working on the squad, and particularly for six months!

    Sabotage in Space | Carey Rockwell
  • More than once he had shaken his head in wonder at being a space cadet.

    Treachery in Outer Space | Carey Rockwell and Louis Glanzman
  • "I'm going to be a space cadet when I get old enough," he gulped breathlessly.

    The Space Pioneers | Carey Rockwell
  • He was a young man wearing the royal-blue uniform of a space cadet.

    Sabotage in Space | Carey Rockwell

British Dictionary definitions for space cadet

space cadet

noun
  1. slang a person who is eccentric or out of touch with reality, as if affected by drugs

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012