Definition of VAGABOND (original) (raw)
: a person who wanders from place to place without a fixed home : one leading a vagabond life
1
: moving from place to place without a fixed home : wandering
2
a
: of, relating to, or characteristic of a wanderer
b
: leading an unsettled, irresponsible, or disreputable life
Synonyms
Examples of vagabond in a Sentence
Noun
be wary of the vagabonds in that corner of the city after they retired, the couple bought an RV and became footloose vagabonds Adjective
a vagabond group of entertainers that performed in rough-and-tumble mining towns
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
After a mother commits suicide, the care of her daughters eventually falls to Aunt Sylvie, a mysterious vagabond, who tries to give them a conventional upbringing. —
The Week Us, theweek, 5 Nov. 2024 The Vikings, meanwhile, are 2-0 thanks in large part to the hot start of vagabond quarterback Sam Darnold. —Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 20 Sep. 2024
There are records of albatrosses spending decades living as vagabond singletons in the wrong hemisphere, Lees said. —Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2021 By modern standards, Wray's story feels like rock and roll lore that edges on pulp: As a child, he was raised in poverty in Dunn, North Carolina, and learned to play guitar from a vagabond bluesman named Hambone. —Colin Stutz, Billboard, 10 Oct. 2017
As a vagabonding aviator, Zdarsky flew his trike around Joshua Tree and Death Valley, and even over 14,505-foot-tall Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada range, nearly freezing himself in the process. —Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Aug. 2023 Providing different perspectives are a vagabonding Swedish artist and his British wife as well as an Aboriginal wrangler called Billy, whose skill as a cricket batsman has blighted his connection to his family traditions. —Alida Becker, New York Times, 5 May 2023 See all Example Sentences for vagabond 
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English vacabounde, vagabounde, borrowed from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French vacabunde, borrowed from Late Latin vagābundus, from Latin vagārī "to wander, roam" (verbal derivative of vagus "moving freely, wandering") + -bundus, deverbal adjective suffix (akin to Latin fuī "I was," Old English bēon "to be") — more at vague, be
First Known Use
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Adjective
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
circa 1586, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of vagabond was in the 15th century
Dictionary Entries Near vagabond
Cite this Entry
“Vagabond.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vagabond. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.
Share
More from Merriam-Webster on vagabond
Last Updated: 15 Nov 2024 - Updated example sentences
Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!