seafaring
Americanadjective
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traveling by sea.
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following the sea as a trade, business, or calling.
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of, relating to, or occurring during a voyage on the sea.
noun
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the business or calling of a sailor.
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traveling by sea.
adjective
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travelling by sea
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working as a sailor
noun
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the act of travelling by sea
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the career or work of a sailor
Etymology
Origin of seafaring
1150–1200; early Middle English safarinde (adj.); see sea, fare, -ing 2, -ing 1
Explanation
Seafaring is the activity of traveling or working on the ocean. You'll be much happier in the Navy if you enjoy seafaring. If you work on a ship or travel often by boat, you can also describe yourself as seafaring. Some seafaring jobs include piloting a yacht, working as a lobsterman, and doing stand-up comedy on a cruise ship. As an adjective, seafaring dates from around 1200, a combination of sea and faring, from the Old English fær, "journey or expedition."
Vocabulary lists containing seafaring
Western Europe - Introductory
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Western Europe - Middle School and 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.
This is a player who inherited the Tugboat moniker in his youth because he supposedly looked like a small, seafaring vessel while lumbering around the bases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Except for when passengers, after taking turns at rigging, filed below deck to explore the ship’s white-oak skeleton, which flexed and creaked in the current—the ancient sounds of a seafaring world that’s all but lost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Masood, the cook, is also having second thoughts about his seafaring career – he has only one month left on his contract.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
The post did not disclose additional details about the baby boy’s birth — including when he arrived — but did explain his unique, seafaring name.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
Around 1200 B.C. a group of farming, fishing, seafaring people from the Bismarck Archipelago north of New Guinea finally succeeded in reaching some of those islands.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
