journey
Americannoun
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journeys
plural
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a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time; trip.
a six-day journey across the desert.
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a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable for traveling.
a desert journey.
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a period of travel.
a week's journey.
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passage or progress from one stage to another.
the journey to success.
verb (used without object)
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journeys,
present (3rd person singular)
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journeyed,
past participle, past
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journeying
present participle
noun
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a travelling from one place to another; trip or voyage
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the distance travelled in a journey
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the time taken to make a journey
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verb
Usage
What does journey mean? A journey is a trip, especially one to a faraway place that takes place over a long period of time. The word trip can refer to any instance of traveling from one place to another, no matter how long or short it is. The word journey, though, typically implies a long trip—one that’s at least several hours, and perhaps several months or even years. It also often implies adventure—a journey might even be a quest. A journey may or may not have a planned destination other than whatever lies ahead. The word is also commonly used in a figurative way to liken any lengthy process or progress to such a trip, as in Life is a journey, with many interesting detours. Journey can also be used as a verb meaning to make a long trip, as in We must journey to the land beyond the mountains. Example: My favorite books are about people who make epic journeys around the world.
Synonym Usage
See trip 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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journeysimple
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journeyssimple
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have journeyedperfect
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has journeyedperfect
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am journeyingprogressive
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are journeyingprogressive
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is journeyingprogressive
-
have been journeyingperfect progressive
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has been journeyingperfect progressive
Past
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journeyedsimple
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had journeyedperfect
-
was journeyingprogressive
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were journeyingprogressive
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had been journeyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of journey
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English journee “day,” from Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin diurnāta “a day's time, day's work, etc.,” equivalent to Latin diurn(us) “daily” + -āta, feminine of -ātus -ate 1; see -ade 1
Explanation
If you're looking for a more refined word to call your latest drive to the beach or trip to the mall, try journey — a noun that describes travel from one place to another. From the Old French journée, meaning a “day’s work or travel,” journey doubles as both noun and verb. The noun simply refers to a voyage; the verb is the act of taking that voyage. So you can journey across the Sahara, or tell friends about your journey across the desert if you make it back alive. Either way, you should always remember that life is a journey, not a destination.
Vocabulary lists containing journey
Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 2
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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:
So producers inside the Gulf have turned to hiring very large crude carriers, known as VLCCs, to complete a perilous journey known as a “shuttle run.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
In “Lanterns,” Stewart creates his own version that acknowledges his journey and perspective on becoming a Green Lantern.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
For Smith, there is real satisfaction in that journey: from an anonymous doorway in Bradford to one of the country's great national galleries.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
"Juice's journey to Jupiter provides only a few opportunities to calibrate and validate the instruments under well-understood environmental conditions," explains Juice project scientist Claire Vallat, who led the effort.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
“My pa was right. This was our journey to make.”
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Long lines of stationary cars and buses clogged major roads on Friday as commuters sought alternate routes, with some forced to continue their journeys on foot.
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
One reason Devitt is still bullish on Amazon is that he believes customers are still likely to start their shopping journeys on Amazon’s site, even as AI agents proliferate.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Astronauts on those journeys may spend far more time away from Earth's gravity than crews currently stationed aboard the International Space Station.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
More supertankers are also off the market as they are taking longer journeys around the Cape of Good Hope.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
His journeys in search of his father accomplished one wonderful thing.
From "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong
These resonated, she wrote, after "my daughter and I journeyed 10 years with only each other".
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
A group of U.S. executives also journeyed to Caracas to discuss potential investments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
The group journeyed to a gothic mansion in La Jolla and dressed as Marie Antoinette in extravagant rococo dresses.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
Humans have journeyed roughly 25 billion km beyond our planet, yet drilling beneath Earth's surface has only reached a depth of just over 12 km.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2026
Then together, saying little, the two of them journeyed to the roof field, where his hovercar had been parked by the pleasant white-clad human attendant.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Evan Mills, a financial advisor at Scholar Advising who works with SpaceX employees, previously told MarketWatch that many of those employees believe in the company’s long-term vision, which includes journeying to Mars.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
The film moves beyond the climate crisis to the increase in climate refugees, which Fox underscores by starting with Americans, including victims of the Paradise blaze, before journeying around the globe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
Today, the island can only be reached at low tide - and people are advised to check the tide times before journeying over.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
The four astronauts on NASA's Artemis 2 mission began their fifth day journeying to the Moon on Sunday, after already taking in sights of the lunar surface never before seen by human eyes.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
Once the skeleton was picked clean, it would begin, often, to float, like seaweed in a quiet tide, shifting this way and that, sometimes surfacing, more often just journeying through the Snow Sand for eternity.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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.
