albatross

[ al-buh-traws, -tros ]

/ ˈæl bəˌtrɔs, -ˌtrɒs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR albatross ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any of several large, web-footed sea birds of the family Diomedeidae that have the ability to remain aloft for long periods.Compare wandering albatross.

a seemingly inescapable moral or emotional burden, as of guilt or responsibility.

something burdensome that impedes action or progress.

Textiles.

a lightweight worsted fabric with a crepe or pebble finish.
a plain-weave cotton fabric with a soft nap surface.

RELATED WORDS

millstone, load, woe, disgrace, misery

Nearby words

Origin of albatross

1675–85; variant of algatross frigate bird < Portuguese alcatraz pelican, probably < Arabic al-ghaṭṭāṣ a kind of sea eagle, literally, the diver; -b- for -g- perhaps by association with Latin albus white (the bird's color)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for albatross

Note to Sting: An “albatross” in this context is more like “tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt.”
Sting and Hillary Are Just Like You: How the Very Rich Play at Being Very Ordinary|Tim Teeman|June 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The deal reached to end the shutdown did nothing to address the albatross of unpredictability.
The GOP’s Uncertainty Strategy Is Killing the Recovery|Kirsten Powers|October 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It was tough when I was younger; it was like an albatross on my back but I just found a way to navigate it.
Helen Mirren On ‘Hitchcock,’ Sexism, Queen Elizabeth II & More|Marlow Stern|November 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
But the Ryan budget could become an albatross in the negotiations over the fiscal cliff.
Back in Congress, What Will Paul Ryan Do Next?|Eleanor Clift|November 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Age has become the albatross hanging on the neck of a generation of would-be mothers.
The Girls’ Guide to Getting Pregnant—Type-A Style|Melissa Lafsky|April 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
“No, they are not,” said Jack; and he took them out of his pockets, and laid them down in a row before the albatross.
Mopsa the Fairy|Jean Ingelow
The Albatross is peculiar to the south as the gull to the north.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life|Thomas Wallace Knox
Knowing that the Albatross would beat her to Sydney, the captain of the Albatross had undertaken to look up the dog.
Michael, Brother of Jerry|Jack London
The crew of the Albatross performed all these different acts of duty with silence and alacrity.
An Old Sailor's Yarns|Nathaniel Ames
I dreamed all that night of the man "that shot the albatross."
Pencillings by the Way|N. Parker Willis

British Dictionary definitions for albatross

albatross

/ (ˈælbəˌtrɒs) /

noun

any large oceanic bird of the genera Diomedea and Phoebetria, family Diomedeidae, of cool southern oceans: order Procellariiformes (petrels). They have long narrow wings and are noted for a powerful gliding flightSee also wandering albatross

a constant and inescapable burden or handicapan albatross of debt

golf a score of three strokes under par for a hole

Word Origin for albatross

C17: from Portuguese alcatraz pelican, from Arabic al-ghattās, from al the + ghattās white-tailed sea eagle; influenced by Latin albus white: C20 in sense 2, from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for albatross

albatross

1670s, probably from Spanish or Portuguese alcatraz "pelican" (16c.), perhaps derived from Arabic al-ghattas "sea eagle" [Barnhart]; or from Portuguese alcatruz "the bucket of a water wheel" [OED], from Arabic al-qadus "machine for drawing water, jar" (from Greek kados "jar"), in reference to the pelican's pouch (cf. Arabic saqqa "pelican," literally "water carrier"). Either way, the spelling was influenced by Latin albus "white." The name was extended, through some mistake, by English sailors to a larger sea-bird (order Tubinares).

Albatrosses were considered good luck by sailors; figurative sense of "burden" (1936) is from Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) about the bad luck of a sailor who shoots an albatross and then is forced to wear its corpse as an indication that he, not the whole ship, offended against the bird. The prison-island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay is named for pelicans that roosted there.