astronaut

noun

as·​tro·​naut ˈa-strə-ˌnȯt 

-ˌnät

plural astronauts

: a person whose profession is to travel beyond the earth's atmosphere

NASA on Wednesday introduced the group of astronauts it has chosen for upcoming missions to the moon. The program, called Artemis, aims to send people back to the moon for the first time since the end of NASA's Apollo program in 1972.

—Kenneth Chang

broadly : any person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere

William Shatner, the 90-year-old actor of "Star Trek" fame, endured a 10-minute, rocket-powered ride to the edge of space … . In that moment, at least one thing became certain: Yes, a nonagenarian can be an astronaut.

—Jackie Wattles

Word Icons

Examples of astronaut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the two mission specialist roles are Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey and ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden. —Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2026

Humanoid-style machines have long been considered useful for assisting astronauts in space missions. —Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 14 Mar. 2026

No crack is smoked; an astronaut’s life has enough highs. —Justin Chang, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026

The four astronauts involved in Artemis II — Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen — are expected to orbit the moon before returning home in what would be the farthest human spaceflight ever. —Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 13 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

astro- + -naut (in aeronaut)

Note: See note at astronautics.

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for astronaut

• aeronaut
• aforethought
• afterthought
• apricot
• argonaut
• camelot
• coffeepot
• concordat
• cosmonaut
• entrepot
• flowerpot
• huguenot

Kids Definition

astronaut

noun

as·​tro·​naut ˈas-trə-ˌnȯt 

-nät

: a traveler in a spacecraft

astronautic

ˌas-trə-ˈnȯt-ik

adjective

or astronautical

-i-kəl, 

-nät-

Etymology

from astro- "star, heavens" (derived from Greek astron "star") and -naut (derived from Greek nautēs "sailor," from naus "ship") — related to nausea, nautical see Word History at nausea