fjord
Americannoun
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a long, narrow arm of the sea bordered by steep cliffs: usually formed by glacial erosion.
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(in Scandinavia) a bay.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fjord
From Norwegian; see origin at firth
Explanation
A fjord is a long, narrow strip of sea that falls between tall cliffs. If you’re traveling in Norway you might be amazed by the rocky cliffs surrounding the deep water of a fjord. A fjord is formed when a slow moving glacier carves out a valley in the earth that then becomes flooded by ocean water. Tall cliffs surrounding a narrow band of water make fjords look very dramatic. Fjords are common in countries like Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. The word fjord gets its looks from its Norwegian origins. Pronounce this funny looking word with a long “e” sound and the accent on the first syllable: “FEE-ord.”
Vocabulary lists containing fjord
Physical Geography - Middle School
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Physical Geography - High School
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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:
And the team’s official World Cup photo features the players dressed as Nordic warriors, weapons in hand, posed before a scenic fjord with long boats in the background.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
Last summer a giant wave swept through a remote fjord in southeast Alaska leaving destruction in its wake.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
"I had seen the fjord and notable mountain features in the satellite images, but being there in person filled me with astonishment at what had happened."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 26, 2026
“The first snow has fallen and the ice on the fjord is getting thicker.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
The exciting new boat made it possible for us to go much farther afield, and every day we would travel far out into the fjord, hunting for a different island.
From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl
But the most Norwegian thing about this man from the fjords who looks and plays like a Viking is how he was raised as a boy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
It was only a few days ago that the horde from the fjords was in Boston taking over the subway system before their team’s first match, a 4-1 victory over Iraq.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
You'll likely know them by now, tucked away in the Arctic fjords, where the winds sweep down off snow-capped mountains and fans wear jumpers as woolly as their scarves.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026
But climate change had a sting in the tail for those who headed north to enjoy the fjords and forests of northern Europe.
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
They came in the night, their long ships creeping up the moonlit fjords.
From "Beowulf: A New Telling" by Robert Nye
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.
