nomad
Americannoun
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nomads
plural
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a member of a people or tribe that has no permanent abode but moves about from place to place, usually seasonally and often following a traditional route or circuit according to the state of the pasturage or food supply.
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any wanderer; itinerant.
adjective
noun
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a member of a people or tribe who move from place to place to find pasture and food
-
a person who continually moves from place to place; wanderer
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of nomad
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin nomad-, from Greek, stem of nomás “roaming about for pasture,” akin to némein “to pasture, graze”
Explanation
A nomad is someone with no permanent home, like the member of a tribe that moves from place to place in search of food, or the rock star who spends 365 days a year in tour buses and hotel rooms. The word nomad has traditionally meant a member of a tribe of people who roamed from place to place in search of animals and shelter. Nomadic tribes wandered out of necessity. Wherever the food went, they went. In its more modern sense, a nomad is someone who would rather wander from place to place than set down roots, like the nomad who crashes at his friends' apartments in various cities instead of renting his own place.
Vocabulary lists containing nomad
Human Geography - Middle School
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The Breadwinner
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Human 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:
Srinivasan’s ideology was a draw for Pranit Garg, a 29-year-old digital nomad who moved here in March, but his favorite part was the gym and all-you-can-eat protein.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Once the nomad larvae hatch, they kill the host bee larvae and consume the stored pollen and nectar intended for the mining bees.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026
He described himself as a "spiritual nomad", exploring paths through yoga, Buddhism, and Christian mysticism, and learned from the Dalai Lama - whom he gifted a tartan-pouched hair clipper in 1988.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025
A portion of those clients are distant descendants seeking a second citizenship, while another crop of those clients are seeking passive income visas for retirees and digital nomad visas for remote workers, Pinto said.
From Salon ● May 18, 2025
“You mean besides selling everything we own, becoming a nomad, and charging desperate people a ton of cash to help them?”
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
Valencia has become one of Europe’s premier locations for digital nomads.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
It’s set in a bougie bohemian realm inhabited by actors and writers, cultural nomads who have mystery and money, and a tinge of the sordid about them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Claudio Ranieri's pizza-loving Leicester nomads stormed to the Premier League summit and, after briefly giving up top spot to Arsenal, surged clear to become 5,000-1-shot winners.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
Multiple battles with Claudius’ henchmen pepper Scarlet and Hijiri’s journey, as does an encounter with the United Nations of this place: a group of wandering nomads from around the world who’ve come together for companionship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026
I saw the Libyan Desert, where nomads tend their camels as they did a thousand years ago.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
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.
