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:
An adventurer who lost a leg in a motorbike crash has warned people not to send money in response to social media messages from someone pretending to be him.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The British adventurer makes her acrobatic moves against a background of realistic graphics, complete with her trademark sarcastic quips.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Winthrop made little headway, but Phips—an adventurer whom Mr. Marquis describes as “one of the more colorful and rascally figures of the era”—reached his objective, the city of Quebec.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 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
Here the adventurer and king sat down; then carefully Penelope began: “Friend, let me ask you first of all: who are you, where do you come from, of what nation and parents were you born?”
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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
The king solemnly advises the adventurers on how, according to lore, elephants became revered participants in the history of his people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
The game, which tells the story of a group of adventurers on a quest to destroy The Paintress, was praised for its emotional narrative and use of old-school turn-based battles.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
When Cortes and his bedraggled adventurers landed on the Mexican coast in 1519, they might have been driven into the sea by thousands of Aztec cavalry mounted on domesticated native American horses.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
