afar

¹ American  

[uh-fahr] / əˈfɑr /

adverb

1. from, at, or to a distance; far away (usually followed byoff ).

   He saw the castle afar off.

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idioms

1. from afar, from a long way off.

   The princess saw him riding toward her from afar.

Afar ² American  

[ah-fahr] / ˈɑ fɑr /

noun

plural

Afars, Afara,

plural

Afar

1. a member of a nomadic Muslim people living in Eritrea, Djibouti, and northern Ethiopia.

2. the Northern Cushitic language spoken by the Afars.

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afar British  

/ əˈfɑː /

adverb

1. at, from, or to a great distance

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noun

1. a great distance (esp in the phrase from afar )

Etymology

Origin of afar

1125–75; Middle English a fer, on ferr; replacing Old English feorran. See a- ¹ (perhaps also a- ² for the meaning “from”), far

Explanation

If something's off at a distance, you can describe it as being afar. You might write a letter to your pen pal in Japan, and say, "This note comes to you from afar." Afar is a poetic and old-fashioned way to say "far away" or "distant." If your summer visitors have traveled from afar, they've come a long way to see you, and if your boyfriend moves to Australia, you might have to continue your relationship from afar. The word is a shortened form of the Old English of feor, in which of means "of" or "on," and feor is "far, remote, or distant."

Example Sentences

In the Pacific, U.S. mobile missiles deployed to islands in places like the Philippines could strike enemy ships from afar.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Another picture shows Kim and his daughter Ju Ae watching the launch from afar, flanked by a military official.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

Still, she has been tracking the strike from afar, and speaking in brief bursts with sources inside the country.

From Slate • Mar. 3, 2026

The lightweight rivals have been sparring from afar since Harper won the WBO belt in September 2024.

From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026

Sauron also had watched us, and had long prepared against our stroke, governing Mordor from afar through Minas Morgul, where his Nine servants dwelt, until all was ready.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien