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:
“But I think social media has found its way to the next generation of adventure seekers who don’t know about the dangers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
‘Under Story,’ Chloe Benjamin’s greatly anticipated follow-up to her breakout hit ‘The Immortalists,’ is an ambitious, fantasy-inflected adventure story.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
If you’re looking for action and adventure, Sam calls The End of Oak Street a “nasty little throwback to Jurassic Park.”
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
Happily, there’s always another adventure right around the corner, whatever age you are.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Still, there was the promise of a train, of a mountain, of an adventure that I couldn’t get out of my head.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
If you’re consistent with your goals, the more Dora the Explorer–style adventures your bird can go on.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
The story, which is told entirely in rhyme, follows Crumble the cat on his daring garden adventures.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
In its IPO prospectus about a decade later, the company pitched itself as a way for sports enthusiasts to share their adventures and passions.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
It was restarted from scratch in 2013 with a new trilogy dubbed "Survivor", chronicling the adventures of a younger, less experienced Lara.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
He consoled himself with the new adventures he could share with her.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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
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
One date turned into three years of adventuring, monthly travels, new restaurants, cities, family weddings and concerts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 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
“It’s been nice adventuring with you guys,” Grover said, his voice trembling.
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
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.
