journey
Americannoun
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journeys
plural
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a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time; trip.
a six-day journey across the desert.
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a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable for traveling.
a desert journey.
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a period of travel.
a week's journey.
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passage or progress from one stage to another.
the journey to success.
verb (used without object)
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journeys,
present (3rd person singular)
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journeyed,
past participle, past
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journeying
present participle
noun
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a travelling from one place to another; trip or voyage
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the distance travelled in a journey
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the time taken to make a journey
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verb
Usage
What does journey mean? A journey is a trip, especially one to a faraway place that takes place over a long period of time. The word trip can refer to any instance of traveling from one place to another, no matter how long or short it is. The word journey, though, typically implies a long trip—one that’s at least several hours, and perhaps several months or even years. It also often implies adventure—a journey might even be a quest. A journey may or may not have a planned destination other than whatever lies ahead. The word is also commonly used in a figurative way to liken any lengthy process or progress to such a trip, as in Life is a journey, with many interesting detours. Journey can also be used as a verb meaning to make a long trip, as in We must journey to the land beyond the mountains. Example: My favorite books are about people who make epic journeys around the world.
Synonym Usage
See trip 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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journeysimple
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journeyssimple
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have journeyedperfect
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has journeyedperfect
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am journeyingprogressive
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are journeyingprogressive
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is journeyingprogressive
-
have been journeyingperfect progressive
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has been journeyingperfect progressive
Past
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journeyedsimple
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had journeyedperfect
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was journeyingprogressive
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were journeyingprogressive
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had been journeyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of journey
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English journee “day,” from Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin diurnāta “a day's time, day's work, etc.,” equivalent to Latin diurn(us) “daily” + -āta, feminine of -ātus -ate 1; see -ade 1
Explanation
If you're looking for a more refined word to call your latest drive to the beach or trip to the mall, try journey — a noun that describes travel from one place to another. From the Old French journée, meaning a “day’s work or travel,” journey doubles as both noun and verb. The noun simply refers to a voyage; the verb is the act of taking that voyage. So you can journey across the Sahara, or tell friends about your journey across the desert if you make it back alive. Either way, you should always remember that life is a journey, not a destination.
Vocabulary lists containing journey
Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 2
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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:
With his dreams of making it big in the full-time game shattered, Thomas embarked on a remarkable journey across non-league football in England, while there were spells at clubs in Kansas, Ontario, Scotland and Belgium.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
“During this journey, you can only imagine there’s a lot of highs and a lot of lows,” Ludlow said then.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Recently, a new season of “Hard Knocks” premiered, HBO’s behind-the-scenes journey through one American pro football team’s pre-season training camp.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
Chavez's journey to Mexico had occurred "in a context of security and calm," Espa told the Canal N television channel.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
From there he would ship out to China for four months—an unusually short trip for such a long journey, which I hoped had nothing to do with me.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Add school runs, shopping trips and other everyday journeys, and walking dominates urban mobility.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
There’s a critical difference between Erle and Lee’s early-graduation journeys, according to Beth Hendler-Grunt, founder and president of career-coaching firm Next Great Step.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
But existing Spanish rules wouldn’t allow them to reach the Spanish mainland to make their onward journeys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Some had made long journeys from cities as far away as Marrakesh and Kenitra after hearing of a chance to reach European soil.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
A wagon train of hopeful people journeys on toward the river.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The woman, a US citizen, journeyed halfway across the globe to reach remote Pitcairn Island after disembarking the cruise ship in Saint Helena, authorities said.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
The group journeyed to a gothic mansion in La Jolla and dressed as Marie Antoinette in extravagant rococo dresses.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
I’d journeyed 6,500 miles from my home in Nashville, and I was here to win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
Misley Mandarin, one of the British-Chagossians who journeyed to the territory, said he had come "peacefully, respectfully, and without threat to anyone - simply to stand on our homeland again".
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
With Walter, I journeyed down to the Transkei.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
In a blaring nightclub in wartime Myanmar, partied-out revellers doze until dawn by the dancefloor, wary of journeying home despite the end of a post-coup curfew.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
He says that many of them were thirsty, starving or had rotten feet after journeying into Evros.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
This year, Times restaurant critic Bill Addison took the challenge further and spent months journeying California to find the best restaurants that depict the state’s eclectic food scene accurately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
All of this searching, seeking, journeying, finding a sense of self and a sovereign self, all that stuff comes from a little hole, a little bit of lack in her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025
Odin called the gods to him, with Tyr and Thor at their head, and he told them that they would be journeying far into Jotunheim, to Giantland, to bring Loki’s children to Asgard.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
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.
