traveler
Americannoun
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travelers
plural
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a person or thing that travels.
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a person who travels or has traveled in distant places or foreign lands.
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part of a mechanism constructed to move in a fixed course.
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Textiles. (in ring spinning) a small metal device that moves rapidly around the ring and guides the yarn onto the revolving bobbin.
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Nautical.
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a metal ring or thimble fitted to move freely on a rope, spar, or rod.
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Also called horse. the rope, spar, or rod itself.
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Theater. Also traveler curtain. a transverse curtain opened by being drawn from both sides of the proscenium.
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(often initial capital letter) a member of any of a number of traditionally itinerant peoples of the British Isles and other English-speaking areas, including, in addition to people of Romani origin, Indigenous groups such as the speakers of Shelta.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of traveler
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English travaillour; see travel, -er 1
Explanation
If you take frequent trips across the country or around the world, you are a traveler. Take a plane to Mexico, and all the other passengers are travelers, just like you. Some people travel often, for work or fun, and they are travelers. Even if you're leaving your hometown for the very first time, you're considered a traveler while you are traveling. The trick to this word is that it sounds like it should have two Ls (and in Canada and the U.K., it's spelled traveller), but in the U.S. there's only one.
Vocabulary lists containing traveler
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:
You never know when you might need to patch up a cut, disinfect a wound, or even help an injured traveler on the side of the road.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Mr. Chabal, a professor of history at the University of Edinburgh, is sympathetic but not so much of a fellow traveler as to follow his subject down the road to perdition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Health workers were screening passengers at the country’s main airport when a Congolese traveler presented with a high temperature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
He owned a 56-foot yacht he named Silver Lining, and authorities said he was known as a master yachtsman and a world traveler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
She was his match: a child of spirit just like him, a fellow traveler in this mystical Brooklyn labyrinth.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
You must have a passport and, unlike TSA PreCheck, travelers must schedule an in-person interview after getting conditionally approved.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
They are cooks, yes, but also historians, artists, entrepreneurs, educators, travelers, designers and storytellers.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026
The Slovenian capital Ljubljana, to United, is the sort of city seasoned travelers want to see but couldn’t get to directly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Maybe we’ll sign up for something like the enticing, easygoing Dolce Tempo trips for older travelers from tour operator Backroads.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
Brightbill’s advice was always good, and Roz always followed it, and together the travelers safely made their way through farm country.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
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.
