motorist
Americannoun
-
motorists
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of motorist
Explanation
Motorist is another word for "driver." Motorists need to be aware of pedestrians and stay out of bike lanes. It's especially common to find the word motorists in news stories when they're talking about drivers as a collective group, like all the motorists in downtown Chicago or rural motorists on two-lane highways. Motorist first appeared in the late 19th century, around the time the earliest automobiles did, meaning "motor car driver." An alternative term that quickly became obsolete was motorneer.
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:
Events keep drifting like a lost motorist who starts out on the interstate and takes a series of wrong turns until he’s on a one-lane dirt road, getting mooed at.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
My car was nearly 20 years old, and I only carried liability and uninsured motorist coverage, not collision.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
“The citation is geared towards improving motorist behavior, improving the sort of conditions on the road rather than increasing the sort of revenue for the city,” Thomas said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
And in Vologda, Nikolai, a motorist who declined to give his surname, said "more stations have started working again, and petrol deliveries have become more frequent. Naturally, the queues have shrunk".
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
“If a motorist so much as asks for directions, what are you to do?”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
“The Rumbler system provides an earlier, more noticeable warning that an emergency vehicle is approaching, giving motorists and pedestrians additional time to recognize the danger and respond safely.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Mercury, a large Los Angeles-based insurer, charged the highest differential, though it offered lower rates to widowed motorists with 34 or more years of driving experience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Main routes across the wider city will remain open, but motorists are being asked to check routes in advance.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Residents and motorists have been asked to follow all road closure signs and diversion routes, which are in place for public safety.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Broadly, the carriers argued that general education was sufficient to remind motorists about the risks of getting distracted by their devices.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
