adventurer
Americannoun
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adventurers
plural
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a person who has, enjoys, or seeks adventures.
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a seeker of fortune in daring enterprises; soldier of fortune.
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a person who undertakes great commercial risk; speculator.
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a person who seeks power, wealth, or social rank by unscrupulous or questionable means.
They thought John was an adventurer and after their daughter's money.
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Usually Adventurer a member of Camp Fire, Inc., who is between the ages of 9 and 11.
noun
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a person who seeks adventure, esp one who seeks success or money through daring exploits
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a person who seeks money or power by unscrupulous means
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a speculator
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of adventurer
Explanation
If you boldly travel to exotic and unexplored locations, you're an adventurer. One thing all adventurers have in common is a willingness to face risks and even danger in pursuit of excitement. Being an adventurer might mean scaling the highest mountains, diving to the bottom of the ocean — or for a very young child, riding a bike all the way to the end of the block. Many adventurers love to travel, particularly to rugged or unfamiliar locations. If you love adventure, you can call yourself an adventurer. Both words stem from the Latin adventura, "about to happen."
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:
In 1979, she founded the Wulff School of Fly Fishing with her husband, Lee Wulff, an adventurer who died in a plane crash in 1991.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
An adventurer until the end, Whittaker died Tuesday at his home in Port Townsend, Wash., his son Leif confirmed to the New York Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
And he was very much an adventurer, right?
From Slate ● Mar. 2, 2026
Popular images, such as the fearless adventurer, powerful fighter and skilled seafarer, have become familiar.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 23, 2025
‘The Argo... back when I was a demigod, I sailed on the original ship, you know. Ah, to be a carefree adventurer again!’
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Figures like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon were adventurers, and while perhaps not personally admirable, they changed history and changed it irrevocably:
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2026
LONDON—The band of adventurers call it “Operation Certain Death.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
This has been a dangerous avalanche season for snow adventurers in the high Sierra.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026
“But the longer we ignore these adventurers, the stronger they grow. We have had a map prepared, a map of the incursions. Grand Maester?”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
