adventure

American  

[ad-ven-cher] / ædˈvɛn tʃər /

noun

adventures plural

1. an exciting or very unusual experience.

2. participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises.

   the spirit of adventure.

3. a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

4. a commercial or financial speculation of any kind; venture.

5. Obsolete.

   1. peril; danger; risk.

   2. chance; fortune; luck.

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verb (used with object)

adventured, adventuring

1. to risk or hazard.

2. to take the chance of; dare.

3. to venture to say or utter.

   to adventure an opinion.

verb (used without object)

adventured, adventuring

1. to take the risk involved.

2. to venture; hazard.

adventure British  

/ ədˈvɛntʃə /

noun

1. a risky undertaking of unknown outcome

2. an exciting or unexpected event or course of events

3. a hazardous financial operation; commercial speculation

4. obsolete

   1. danger or misadventure

   2. chance

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verb

1. to take a risk or put at risk

2. to dare to go or enter (into a place, dangerous activity, etc)

3. to dare to say (something)

   he adventured his opinion

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• adventureful
  adjective
• unadventuring
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• adventures
  plural

Etymology

Origin of adventure

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English aventure, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Vulgar Latin adventūra (unrecorded) “what must happen,” feminine (originally neuter plural) of Latin adventūrus future participle of advenīre “to arrive”; ad- ad- replacing a- a- ⁵; see advent, -ure

Explanation

An adventure is an exciting and probably risky trip, effort, or undertaking. Let's go explore the jungle! Don't be scared — it'll be an adventure! To a kid from the city, a ride on the subway is just another trip across town. To a kid from the suburbs, though, it can be a real adventure — a trip to a strange place with all sorts of strange people, new sights, and surprising twists and turns. If you've ever been to the Great Adventure amusement park, you know that the whole place is designed to make you feel as though you're on a wild, exciting, and thrilling trip — a great adventure. People often go on an adventure hoping something wonderful will come of it.

Example Sentences

But some of the storied studio's more recent titles, like the alien adventure Elio and Toy Story spin-off Lightyear, have bombed at the box office.

From BBC • Jun. 22, 2026

After a short stop back at base camp in Charlotte, North Carolina, for Clarke's men, they will make their way back to Florida where this adventure kicked off three weeks ago.

From BBC • Jun. 20, 2026

Robert Lawson’s tongue-in-cheek historical adventure tells the story of Paul Revere’s ride from the perspective of his observant and opinionated horse.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026

The title comes from a pivotal line in the 1991 film “Thelma & Louise,” marking the turning point for Geena Davis’ character Thelma, fully committing to her ultimately fatal adventure with Susan Sarandon’s Louise.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026

The snowy land was ever so flat and uninspiring and went on forever without a glimmer of adventure beckoning over the horizon.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Related Words

• experience
• exploit
• feat
• scene
• trip