adventure
Americannoun
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adventures
plural
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an exciting or very unusual experience.
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participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises.
the spirit of adventure.
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a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.
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a commercial or financial speculation of any kind; venture.
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Obsolete.
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peril; danger; risk.
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chance; fortune; luck.
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verb (used with object)
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to risk or hazard.
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to take the chance of; dare.
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to venture to say or utter.
to adventure an opinion.
verb (used without object)
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to take the risk involved.
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to venture; hazard.
noun
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a risky undertaking of unknown outcome
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an exciting or unexpected event or course of events
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a hazardous financial operation; commercial speculation
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obsolete
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danger or misadventure
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chance
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verb
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to take a risk or put at risk
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to dare to go or enter (into a place, dangerous activity, etc)
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to dare to say (something)
he adventured his opinion
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing adventure
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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:
In recent years, however, it has broadened its focus to extreme adventure tourism, with options for every level of experience, fitness and skill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Brown said "after a lifetime packed with adventure, at 57-years-old I wanted another epic adventure before I got too old".
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
It features a snowmobile adventure and a trip to the ER for their son Patrick, who was diagnosed with severe constipation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Nobody wants to order mozzarella sticks anymore, they want the adventure of finding the best secret combo of mozzarella sticks dipped into various sauces in the cornucopia of a Chili’s Triple Dipper.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
I’m sensing another adventure, but the possibility frightens me.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Now 60, I have outlived my mother, and I’m also surrounded by young people — my two daughters and my students — just as my parents were on their long-distance adventures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Then, there is former Gov. Mark Sanford, who gained fame as a budget hawk and infamy for his extramarital adventures on the “Appalachian Trail.”
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Fargo Village staff have set up an Instagram account in an effort to track down his owner, and it has attracted a loyal following of fans eager to keep up with his daily adventures.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
The game is the organizing factor in the narrator’s globe-trotting adventures, whose objectives, never obvious to begin with, always seem to be changing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
I decided to write down some of the things I’ve learned from my adventures, but there was just one more line left in my first notebook.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
Bruce: We were as basic as we could be, talking about something we’ve never fully adventured into, and rightly so.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2024
“That’s precisely why I had Emet-Selch take on the role of chiding like, ‘What’s with that lonely look, as though you know and have adventured through everything there is to see in the world?
From The Verge ● Apr. 29, 2022
On the one hand, he tells us, the annals are haunted by “those who almost adventured, who almost achieved, but ultimately, for them, it proved to be too much.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2022
I’m not sure Dave will be around in a year or two when I’m all adventured out.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2020
But halfway down the steps, she realized just how long it had been since she’d adventured by herself.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
A self-described B-student, he spent his childhood adventuring in the wilderness near his hometown of Seattle, and as a kid had preferred skiing to YouTube.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
If biking with a cat or small dog is on someone’s bucket list, the brand’s pet carrier clicks right into the rear cargo rack for easy adventuring.
From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2025
Mr Deen added that Jeremiah liked football, exploring and adventuring, and that the family would not dwell on the sadness, but would "focus on how happy he made us in his life".
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2024
During the day, when you aren’t out adventuring, you can find a shady spot beneath a towering ponderosa pine or cedar tree.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2024
“Stay here while the rest of you go adventuring? Not a chance!”
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
