sailor
Americannoun
-
sailors
plural
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a person whose occupation is sailing or navigation; mariner.
- Synonyms:
- seafarer
- Antonyms:
- landlubber
-
a seaman below the rank of officer.
-
a naval enlistee.
-
a person adept at sailing, especially with reference to freedom from seasickness.
He was such a bad sailor that he always traveled to Europe by plane.
-
a flat-brimmed straw hat with a low, flat crown.
noun
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any member of a ship's crew, esp one below the rank of officer
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a person who sails, esp with reference to the likelihood of his becoming seasick
a good sailor
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short for sailor hat sailor suit
Synonym Usage
Sailor, mariner, salt, seaman, tar are terms for a person who leads a seafaring life. A sailor or seaman is one whose occupation is on board a ship at sea, especially a member of a ship's crew below the rank of petty officer: a sailor before the mast; an able-bodied seaman. Mariner is a term now found only in certain technical expressions: master mariner (captain in merchant service); mariner's compass (ordinary compass as used on ships); formerly used much as “sailor” or “seafaring man,” now the word seems elevated or quaint: Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Salt and tar are informal terms for old and experienced sailors: an old salt; a jolly tar.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sailor
Explanation
A sailor is someone who works on a boat or ship — either for fun, a job, or while serving in the navy. If you want to be a sailor, it's good to start by learning to swim. If you work on a cargo ship or help to pilot a schooner in the summer, you can call yourself a sailor. You're also a sailor if you learn how to sail a small boat around a lake. Even though the boats that sailors work on don't necessarily have sails, that's where the word comes from — the verb sail. Before sailor was coined in the 15th century, people used mariner and seaman.
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:
The sailor found far from the others has now been identified as Harry Peglar, Captain of the Foretop on HMS Terror.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Michael Gonzales, a sailor on the Petersen, said that there were days when he felt hungry, but other sailors said they always received enough.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Pant was the only sailor on board to have been charged, with most of the other 24 crew members since repatriated.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
The film depicted a sailor who was below deck, tasked with watching machines in an enclosed, lonely room while the war against the enemy raged outside.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
When he came back he had a jelly doughnut in his hand and a sailor hat on his head.
From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli
Speaking of the other sailors on the boat, he said, “I would think that the overwhelming majority would be like, Jackson, you got a cool dad.”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Earlier this month, Iran made a similar claim about an incident that killed two Filipino sailors on a Saudi-owned oil supertanker in the crucial waterway.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
There are currently around 18,000 Marines, sailors and their families in Japan, according to the Marine Corps website.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The four new matches raise the number of Franklin expedition sailors identified through DNA to six.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
As Penelope already knew, Simon’s great-uncle Pudge was very old and had been a seafarer in his youth; now he lived in a home for old sailors in the city of Brighton, near the sea.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
