limousine
Americannoun
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any large, luxurious automobile, especially one driven by a chauffeur.
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a large sedan or small bus, especially one for transporting passengers to and from an airport, between train stations, etc.
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a former type of automobile having a permanently enclosed compartment for from three to five persons, with a roof projecting forward over the driver's seat in front.
noun
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any large and luxurious car, esp one that has a glass division between the driver and passengers
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a former type of car in which the roof covering the rear seats projected over the driver's compartment
Etymology
Origin of limousine
1900–05; < French: kind of motorcar, special use of limousine long cloak, so called because worn by the shepherds of Limousin
Explanation
A limousine is a fancy car that's driven by a special driver. Some high school kids hire limousines to take them and their friends to the prom. Some limousines are unusually long, stretched-out versions of regular sedans, while others are merely large and luxurious. The passengers in a limousine sit in the back, sometimes separated from the driver, or chauffeur, by a partition. Wealthy people might own their limousines, but most people rent them for special occasions like weddings. In the US, the word is also used to mean a more ordinary type of hired car: "I'll just take a limousine to the airport."
Vocabulary lists containing limousine
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.
The increases will also apply to black car, taxi and limousine drivers who currently don’t pay anything to drop off passengers curbside at the airport.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2026
In my neighborhood, the only time you ever saw a limousine was behind a hearse at a funeral.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was struck by a bullet while walking to his limousine.
From BBC • Sep. 18, 2025
Two months ago, Smith pulled into a gas station and caught sight of a 1989 black Cadillac limousine.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 25, 2025
He “lifted me by one arm, you know, under one elbow and...carried me like that, swept me out of there and swept me into this big limousine with a driver.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
