abroad

adverb or adjective

ə-ˈbrȯd 

1

: beyond the boundaries of one's country : in or to a foreign country

traveling abroad

hopes to study abroad next year

both at home and abroad

a family that came here from abroad [=from a foreign country] several years ago

2

: over a wide area : widely

wolves venturing abroad in increasing numbers

3

old-fashioned : away from one's home

doesn't go walking abroad at night

4

formal : in wide circulation : about

There are rumors abroad that the company is in trouble.

5

: wide of the mark : astray

Examples of abroad in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For Loureiro, the practical post-Goya upside has been clearest abroad. —Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 14 Apr. 2026

The election has been mired with logistical issues that left thousands of people in the country and abroad unable to cast ballots. —Franklin Briceño, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026

By the end of 2025, even states that had never depended on buying goods from abroad were feeling tariff tremors in their own way. —Tristan Bove, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2026

The Chicago Daily News had been one of the first to assign correspondents to permanent posts abroad in peacetime, back in 1898. —Louis Menand, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English abrod, abrood, from a- a- entry 1 + brod, brood broad entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for abroad

• applaud
• backboard
• ballade
• defraud
• ephod
• facade
• guffawed
• outlawed
• ramrod
• roughshod
• slipshod
• tripod

Kids Definition

abroad

adverb or adjective

ə-ˈbrȯd 

1

: over a wide area

2

: away from one's home

doesn't go abroad at night

3

: in or to foreign countries

travel abroad

4

formal : in wide circulation

rumors were abroad