sightseeing
Americannoun
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of sightseeing
Explanation
Sightseeing is what you do when you travel somewhere and spend time visiting museums, sites, or neighborhoods. You might dream of sightseeing in Paris someday. Sightseeing is an activity that's almost always done in an unfamiliar place, and usually during a vacation. Going sightseeing in the city where you live isn't impossible, though—you could spend a day taking tours, visiting historic sites, and looking at your city the way a tourist would. Sightseeing has been in use since the 19th century, from the idea of "seeing the sights."
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.
Someone estimated costs at $1,000 per day per person — staying at 4- or 5-star hotels, using private transportation and avoiding lines for sightseeing.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026
He found himself sightseeing on Jeju Island, a resort island famous for sweet mandarins and volcanic rock statues.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025
“There wasn’t any organized sightseeing that I remember,” Fouts said.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2025
They'd booked a room with air conditioning at a resort, intending to spend the time relaxing in the swimming pool and sightseeing – but this wasn't possible because of the searing heat.
From BBC • Jun. 17, 2025
We spent the weekend spiritlessly sightseeing, assailed by unspoken anxieties.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
