wombat

noun

wom·​bat ˈwäm-ˌbat 

: any of several stocky burrowing Australian marsupials (genera Vombatus and Lasiorhinus of the family Vombatidae) resembling small bears

Illustration of wombat

Examples of wombat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It's become the boy who cried wolf, bear, moose, badger, wombat, elephant, natterjack toad, mandrel, meerkat, blue whale, lesser skink, prairie dog, ferret, wildebeest, dingo, tree kangaroo, sloth, anteater, blue-footed booby, Norwegian Blue, and half the catalog in the Museum of Natural History. —New Atlas, 24 Jan. 2026

Traditionally, mammalian biofluorescence, such as glowing fur in bare-nosed wombats and bandicoots, has been studied as a property of the animal itself. —Anirban Mukhopadhyay, Scientific American, 21 Jan. 2026

After a year of preparation, conservationists released 36 Northern hairy-nosed wombats at the site over the summer. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025

This is different from marsupial mammals, which include opossums, kangaroos, wombats, and koalas. —Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 19 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Dharuk (Australian aboriginal language of the Port Jackson area) wambad

First Known Use

1798, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for wombat

• begat
• bobcat
• chitchat
• doormat
• ducat
• eclat
• format
• hazmat
• muskrat
• nonfat
• polecat
• thereat

Kids Definition

wombat

noun

wom·​bat ˈwüm-ˌbat 

: any of several stocky burrowing Australian marsupials that resemble small bears