abroad
Americanadverb
-
in or to a foreign country or countries.
famous at home and abroad.
- Synonyms:
- overseas
- Antonyms:
- at-home
-
in or to another continent.
Shall we go to Mexico or abroad this summer?
-
out of doors; from one place to another; about.
No one was abroad in the noonday heat. The owl ventures abroad at night.
-
spread around; in circulation.
Rumors of disaster are abroad.
- Synonyms:
- rife, everywhere
-
broadly; widely; far and wide.
-
wide of the mark; in error.
noun
adverb
adjective
-
(of news, rumours, etc) in general circulation; current
-
out in the open
-
over a wide area
-
archaic in error
Etymology
Origin of abroad
First recorded in 1225–75, abroad is from the Middle English word abrod. See a- 1, broad
Explanation
If you study abroad in your junior year of college, you are going to school in another country. Use abroad when you are talking about going to or from a place across an ocean. Abroad really just means in a different country, but it is almost always used interchangeably with "overseas." You almost never hear an American say, "She lives abroad; she's studying in Canada." You might be eager to take a trip abroad. If so, get your passport ready. They won't let you board a plane going abroad without one.
Vocabulary lists containing abroad
Beowulf vocabulary
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Remote Learning: Synonyms for "Far"
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Franklin Roosevelt, "Four Freedoms" (1941)
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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.
Abroad, though, interest rates and inflation risks have shot up, fuel is being conserved, and economic forecasts are darkening.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
Lachowitz, who is also chairman of American Citizens Abroad, recommends that expats give relatives in the U.S. copies of their passports and other important documents.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
But head of the Directorate General for Guineans Living Abroad Mamadou Saitiou Barry told AFP that the term "disappeared" should be used with "great caution".
From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025
He played Georgio, the waiter in the crumbling hotel, in Carry On Abroad in 1972, and also killed daleks and cybermen in the 1966 Dr Who movie Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.
From BBC • Aug. 10, 2025
Don’t mention anything about Abroad while you’re here unless you want the pants bored off you.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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.
