passenger
Americannoun
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a person who is traveling in an automobile, bus, train, airplane, or other conveyance, especially one who is not the driver, pilot, or the like.
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a wayfarer; traveler.
noun
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a person travelling in a car, train, boat, etc, not driven by him
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( as modifier )
a passenger seat
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a member of a group or team who is a burden on the others through not participating fully in the work
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of passenger
1300–50; Middle English passager < Middle French, noun use of passag ( i ) er (adj.) passing, temporary; see passage 1, -ier 2; for -n- cf. messenger, harbinger, scavenger, popinjay
Explanation
A passenger is a person who rides in a vehicle. If you grab a ride home from school with your best friend, you are a passenger in her car. Everyone riding in a train, plane, bus, or any other vehicle is a passenger — except the driver, pilot, or crew. A passenger's only job is to ride along. In the fourteenth century, a passenger was simply a "passer-by," from the Old French passagier, "passing, fleeting, or traveling." The first instance of the modern use was recorded in the early 1500s.
Vocabulary lists containing passenger
Greetings, World Traveler! — List 1
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"Return to Titanic" and "Talking with Robert Ballard"
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 10–September 16, 2022
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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.
Demand was lead by Africa, and Latin America and Caribbean, where numbers grew 6.6% and 6.1% respectively as measured in revenue passenger kilometers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026
As for BYD, China’s most valuable car company sold 397,292 passenger vehicles External link in June, including 201,472 all-electric cars.
From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026
A pilot landing a passenger plane at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday morning reported hitting a drone, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
Sussex Police said the teenager died after the car in which he was a passenger collided with another car near Shooters Bottom car park, by Beach Head, at about 21:30 BST on 26 June.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026
Wynn helped Nan into the passenger seat and even tried to fasten her seat belt, which earned him a smack on the hand.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
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.
