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Synonyms

faraway

American  
[fahr-uh-wey] / ˈfɑr əˈweɪ /

adjective

  1. distant; remote.

    faraway lands.

  2. dreamy, preoccupied.

    a faraway look.
faraway British  
/ ˈfɑːrəˌweɪ /

adjective

  1. very distant; remote

  2. dreamy or absent-minded

"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

Etymology

Origin of faraway

First recorded in 1810–20; far + away

Explanation

Something that's distant from you is faraway. Your faraway pen pal's letters might take over a week to arrive in your mailbox. You can describe something that's far off or removed from you with the adjective faraway — and you can also use it for things that only feel distant, or that happened a long time ago. Your faraway childhood or the faraway history of your town's oldest building are a couple of examples. This word can also be correctly spelled with a hyphen, far-away, or as two words, far away.

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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.

"To see all our names credited under the photographs is a very proud moment. It's like a faraway dream - something you would never have thought would happen. It's just surreal."

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

Scammers can call you from some faraway location and make the number coming up on your phone appear to be your bank’s headquarters in the city where you live.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026

You might be tempted, with every faraway look in Christian Petzold’s subtly moving “Miroirs No. 3,” to hope for that soothing, enlightened release so often served as catharsis in tales of loss and healing.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

Most practices are resold to another PE firm within three years, putting a neighborhood optometry or gastroenterology practice through a succession of faraway new owners, all looking to sell for more to the next one.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2026

Leo wasn’t sure what to make of her faraway tone.

From "The House of Hades" 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.