Noun
the experienced birder was able to identify birds from afar
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Adverb
If Darwin was the messenger from There, filing from afar to Victorian England, Attenborough is the grand master of Here.—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 8 May 2026 As the Wild have slowly filled the puck holder, Lange has watched proudly from afar, scouring social media after each win to see which player is going to be picked.—Dane Mizutani, Twin Cities, 8 May 2026
Noun
In the old days, few people thought twice about listing their home phones; they were published in the local phone book, but accessing the white pages from afar was enough of a chore to discourage, say, stalkers.—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2019 What has become of our beautiful-from-afar, but gross-up-close city?—Heather Knight, SFChronicle.com, 13 July 2019 See All Example Sentences for afar
Word History
Etymology
Adverb
Middle English afer, aferre, reduced from on fer "at a distance" and of fer "from a distance" — more at far entry 1