yacht
Americannoun
-
yachts
plural
verb (used without object)
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yachts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yachted,
past participle, past
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yachting
present participle
noun
-
a vessel propelled by sail or power, used esp for pleasure cruising, racing, etc
-
short for sand yacht ice yacht
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
yachtsimple
-
yachtssimple
-
have yachtedperfect
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has yachtedperfect
-
am yachtingprogressive
-
are yachtingprogressive
-
is yachtingprogressive
-
have been yachtingperfect progressive
-
has been yachtingperfect progressive
Past
-
yachtedsimple
-
had yachtedperfect
-
was yachtingprogressive
-
were yachtingprogressive
-
had been yachtingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yacht
1550–60; < early Dutch jaght, short for jaghtschip hunting ship, equivalent to Dutch jacht hunt (derivative of jagen to hunt) + schip ship 1
Compare meaning
How does yacht compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A yacht is an upscale boat — often a sailboat — that is used for cruising or racing. If you're on a cargo ship, you're probably at work; if you're on a yacht, it's probably your day off. While today a yacht is usually a pleasure vessel, and associated with wealth and recreation, its origins are anything but: the word yacht comes from the early modern Dutch jaghtschip, which referred to “a fast pirate ship,” and jacht meant “hunting.” You won’t find many yachts doing any hunting today — but you might find one cruising around the bay or parked at the yacht club. Yacht can also be a verb meaning to travel in a yacht.
Vocabulary lists containing yacht
Seas The Day: Words That Shore Are Beachy
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 17–August 23, 2024
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 15–February 21, 2026
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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:
A luxury yacht broker is suing Storonsky, alleging the entrepreneur “went behind their back” to avoid paying commission on a purchase they had worked on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Going to Babble On” has a quicker pulse with guitars that chug, and its vibe has the melodic ease of the early-’80s pop style sometimes called yacht rock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The frigate fired warning shots as Jane and Alan Kelvey sailed their yacht on what Russia's defence ministry said had been a "dangerous approach".
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Domenick Yazzolino, reported that authorities got a call about a burglary and found Forbes inside a yacht that didn’t belong to her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
The yacht had been sold to MoMo B. ChaCha through various channels because it was a symbol of wicked American excess, which The Peacock publicly disdained.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
The public official is accused of lodging without permission on two docked yachts that did not belong to her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
He has appeared in countless videos, flaunting an ultra-luxurious lifestyle of fast cars, private jets, and yachts.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Nearby were a golf club, a marina for yachts and hotels run by Sheraton and Spain’s Melia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Later, the sessions for 1977’s “London Town” were recorded in a studio they built in one of three yachts anchored off the coast of the Virgin Islands.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
It matched what was painted on the yachts in the marina, on the front of the palace, and on the arms of the statues.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
She may repeat the furore created when King George's mother, Denmark's radiant Alexandra, was similarly yachted to Britain to marry the future Edward VII.
From Time Magazine Archive
He has yachted from blazing Syria to arctic Spitsbergen.
From Time Magazine Archive
All last summer Queen & Daughter yachted and toured in Scandinavia.
From Time Magazine Archive
It didn't occasion any loud comments from nobility or clergy when the King yachted to Yugoslavia with Mrs. Simpson.
From Time Magazine Archive
She yachted, and danced, and canoed, and flew, all that summer.
From In Apple-Blossom Time A Fairy-Tale to Date by Clara Louise Burnham
The pair have been photographed yachting in St. Tropez, holding hands in London and attending the premiere of the “Legally Blonde” prequel “Elle.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
A yachting incident intensified the rivalry between Turner and Murdoch in 1983 when a Murdoch-sponsored yacht collided with Turner's in the Sydney-Hobart race, sinking Turner's schooner.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
There have been many other sporting knighthoods and damehoods, including in athletics, yachting, football, golf, tennis, horse racing, cycling and rowing.
From BBC ● May 30, 2025
Along the way, he wrote crime novels focused on the Orange County yachting set, upper-crust dog show fans, Palm Springs country clubs, the America’s Cup, and the Nobel Prize.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025
A few days later he took him to Duluth and bought him a blue coat, six pair of white duck trousers and a yachting cap.
From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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.
