yonder

American  

[yon-der] / ˈyɒn dər /

adjective

1. being in that place or over there; being that or those over there.

   That road yonder is the one to take.

2. being the more distant or farther.

   yonder side.

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adverb

1. at, in, or to that place specified or more or less distant; over there.

yonder British  

/ ˈjɒndə /

adverb

1. at, in, or to that relatively distant place; over there

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determiner

1. being at a distance, either within view or as if within view

   yonder valleys

Etymology

Origin of yonder

1250–1300; Middle English yonder, yender, equivalent to yond + -er as in hither, thither, etc.; akin to Dutch ginder, Gothic jaindre

Explanation

Yonder is an old-fashioned way to say, "Over there." When your sister asks where you parked the car, you might jokingly reply, "Yonder, by the fire hydrant." Some dialects in various parts of the United States still use the word yonder, usually to specify something that's within sight, and often with accompanied by a gesture pointing toward it. You could say, "My dog's yonder in the corn field," or "I saw Billy yonder, on the tire swing." The phrase "wild blue yonder" was first used to refer to the sky in the 1939 U.S. Air Force song.

Example Sentences

"Sandy's made lots of phone calls because we were told he was found at the farm over yonder," he continued.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

Up yonder in the Big Apple, Andrew Cuomo is still pursuing an independent campaign for mayor against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.

From Slate • Aug. 23, 2025

An absent father—from a city yonder, past state lines Temple had never crossed—and no relatives on his mother’s side ensured that he got no apprenticeships.

From Slate • Dec. 16, 2023

That’s where you’ll always find me, way back yonder, where the crawdads sing.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2022

Over yonder were what she called her “word plants”—the wild flowers she planted because they had names she liked.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns