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

Advertisement Boeing Starliner, April NASA paid Boeing top dollar back in 2014 to build a crew vehicle to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 2 Jan. 2026

The question still remains which country will successfully land astronauts (or taikonauts) back on the moon first, but there's no denying which nation will be the first to fly a crew to lunar space in the new millennium. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 2 Jan. 2026

The mission will send four astronauts on a roughly 10-day journey around the moon to evaluate how the Orion spacecraft’s various systems and hardware function in a deep space environment. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 1 Jan. 2026

Crew was only two to make room for Boeing Starliner CFT crew astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the return flight next February. —Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Jan. 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