fare
Americannoun
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fares
plural
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the price of conveyance or passage in a bus, train, airplane, or other vehicle.
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a person or persons who pay to be conveyed in a vehicle; paying passenger.
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a person who hires a public vehicle and its driver.
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hearty fare.
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something offered to the public, for entertainment, enjoyment, consumption, etc..
literary fare.
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Archaic. state of things.
verb (used without object)
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fares,
present (3rd person singular)
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fared,
past participle, past
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faring
present participle
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to experience good or bad fortune, treatment, etc.; get on.
He fared well in his profession.
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to go; turn out; happen (used impersonally).
It fared ill with him.
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to go; travel.
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to eat and drink.
They fared sumptuously.
noun
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the sum charged or paid for conveyance in a bus, train, aeroplane, etc
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a paying passenger, esp when carried by taxi
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a range of food and drink; diet
verb
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to get on (as specified); manage
he fared well
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to turn out or happen as specified
it fared badly with him
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archaic to eat
we fared sumptuously
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archaic (often foll by forth) to go or travel
Synonym Usage
See food.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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faresimple
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faressimple
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have faredperfect
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has faredperfect
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am faringprogressive
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are faringprogressive
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is faringprogressive
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have been faringperfect progressive
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has been faringperfect progressive
Past
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faredsimple
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had faredperfect
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was faringprogressive
-
were faringprogressive
-
had been faringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fare
First recorded before 1000; Middle English faren, Old English faran; cognate with German fahren, Old Norse fara, Gothic faran; akin to emporium, port 5, pram 2
Explanation
It's not fair that fare means three unrelated things. As a verb, it means to proceed or get along, as in "Fare thee well." As a noun, it can refer to the cost of travel ("Train fare is ten dollars") or to food ("Tatertots are typical cafeteria fare"). Although this word has multiple meanings, they can all be traced back to the Old English root for "journey." If you’re taking a trip, fare well! If you do fare well, you'll have a great time. A taxi looking for a fare might give you a ride to the airport (though you'll have to pay the fare). And if you didn’t bring your own food, you’ll have to eat airplane fare. Fare is a handy word to bring on a journey!
Vocabulary lists containing fare
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"The Civil Rights Movement"
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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:
Some passengers simply don’t show up, and a seat that is empty when the plane takes off is one that could have been sold to another customer—perhaps one willing to pay a higher last-minute fare.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
For Cohn, pop, unlike rock, offered “a quick hit,” in contrast to album-oriented fare.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
Armstrong's team-mate and fellow Irishman Josh McErlean did not fare as well despite running as high as sixth on Saturday before retiring after a collision with a tree.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
“These fare increases will not raise enough to fill Metrolink’s budget deficit,” she told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
To trick him into giving scientific talks, his friends would stuff him into a taxicab and pay a one-way fare to the destination.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Tonia Jones was shocked to learn that Metrolink fares were going up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
But Flintshire council said there had been no explanation that children, families and pensioners, who all qualified for concessionary fares, would be charged full adult price.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
“Sharp price rises for petrol and diesel pushed inflation up again,” the ONS said, adding that higher air fares and factory prices also contributed to the increase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Since entering government in July, Burnham has offered the British public some relatively low-cost relief such as cheaper bus fares and a tax cut on electricity bills.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Both she and Jamie could travel on the leftover pass since two half fares equal one whole.
From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg
The Champagne region fared less well as growers had to harvest exceptionally early after the extreme heat sped sugar buildup -- and hence natural alcohol production.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
But he fared better than Russell, who was lacking pace compared to his team-mate all day, and ended up 0.240secs off Antonelli.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
A broad measure of American incomes reached a record high last year as upper-income households fared well and women’s pay gained ground compared with men, according to an annual Census report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
A 2013 push by Google failed to take off but Meta's smart spectacles, developed in partnership with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, have fared much better.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
Still I doubt that a day went by in which I did not think of Julia and wonder how she fared.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
These will give an up-to-date snapshot of how companies are faring given the recent spike in oil prices, which was a key factor prompting the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its recent meeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Tokyo shed more than two percent, with Kioxia off around 10 percent and investment giant SoftBank faring little better.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
They aren’t living drab or depressing lives when the Guardians of the Universe activate them — they’re faring pretty well, all things considered.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
China will release a batch of July data on Monday, including industrial production, retail sales, fixed-asset investment and housing prices that will show how the economy is faring at the start of the third quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
I can’t help but think of Calliope and how she’s faring through this.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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.
