moped
Americannoun
-
mopeds
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of moped
1955–60; < German, ultimately < Swedish ( trampcykel med ) mo ( tor och ) ped ( aler ) pedal cycle with engine and pedals
Explanation
A moped is a two-wheeled vehicle that can be powered by pedals or an engine. You might find it easier to get around the city on your moped than in a car. Although today there are some mopeds that don't have them, the earliest versions always included bicycle pedals. The word itself was coined in 1952 by a Swedish journalist, from trampcykel med motor och pedaler, literally "pedal cycle with motor and pedals." It's relatively easy to get a license to ride a moped, which is less powerful and slower than a motorcycle.
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:
A ballroom dancer who coddles his pet rats—Fred and Ginger—Declan rides a moped that his colleague, Sara Xiu, describes as “that pitiful hair-dryer on wheels.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Anything faster is classified as an moped or e-motorcycle, which can require someone to have a motorcycle classification on their license.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
“To ride a motorcycle or moped, you need to have the appropriate driver’s license and comply with rules of the road.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
Pulling up his laptop, Dallas shows off the art for a single: On a majestic winding Italian road, ian perches pensively on a white moped, in an all-white yacht outfit, barefoot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
He moped around the Boston PIH office for a while, then went on a lecture tour, hitting small towns in Maine, Texas, Kansas, and Iowa, explaining the situation in Haiti to anyone who would listen.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
A Ram truck with a yellow barnacle on its windshield, a handful of mopeds under rain covers, and a lot of empty parking spaces.
From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2025
Here, the music scores an extraordinary montage that includes a lavish ball in 1918, the exploits of a fishing boat and a fleet of mopeds cruising in slow motion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2025
The market for electric bikes, scooters and mopeds is expanding, which is a positive trend for cutting carbon emissions.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2024
In an alleyway in Fuzhou, the main city in Fujian province, Li Haoyu from Taiwan tosses noodles into the sizzling wok as customers on mopeds wait for their dinner.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2024
The mopeds parted like fish in a giant shoal.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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.
