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
Words Every Pirate Should Know
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Introduction to Fiction
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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:
“His tenacity, his drive, his zeal, his adventure for life. He’s just Naya in boy form,” Previtire said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
The category, players, is European luxury adventure motorcycles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Their offerings include warm-weather beaches, outdoor adventure and big-city amenities.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
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
Neither heat nor thirst stopped Don Quixote; there was only adventure in his mind.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
The best destinations for extreme adventures have the natural landscape to support them, as well as reputable and safe guide services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
"Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human," the streamer said.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
America’s most-loved fictional titans, Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne, have bottomless wealth to fund their vigilante adventures, making them especially mesmerizing to an audience raised on rags-to-riches fables.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
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
During his visits, reporters kept tabs on him, printing stories about his cowboy adventures in the newspaper, which kept him in the public eye.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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
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
As I look back at my vanlife adventure, it blows my mind that I’ve adventured more during the first year of my 30s than almost all 29 years before.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2019
As Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel, Carol has led the Avengers, adventured with the X-Men and saved the world over and over again.
From The Verge ● Sep. 19, 2018
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
One of those characters is Silas, Sherlock’s adventuring father who doesn’t appear until the end of Episode 4.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026
Whether he’s adventuring in creator Michael Bond’s children’s books, making the jump to animated TV series or most recently, the big screen, Paddington always sees the best in people.
From Salon ● Jan. 20, 2025
Jones, an adventuring archaeologist, is seen with the hat early on in the movie where he and his companions jump from a crashing plane in an inflatable raft.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2024
He lets Scoob navigate the whole trip from his map, and they make the same stops so Dad can see all Scoob and G’ma got up to on their adventuring.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
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.
