nomadic

adjective

no·​mad·​ic nō-ˈma-dik 

1

: of, relating to, or characteristic of nomads

a nomadic tribe

nomadic herders

2

: roaming about from place to place aimlessly, frequently, or without a fixed pattern of movement

a nomadic hobo

Synonyms

• ambulant
• ambulatory
• errant
• fugitive
• gallivanting
• galavanting
• itinerant
• nomad
• perambulatory
• peregrine
• peripatetic
• ranging
• roaming
• roving
• vagabond
• vagrant
• wandering
• wayfaring

Examples of nomadic in a Sentence

raised in a nomadic family, she attended half a dozen different high schools

Recent Examples on the Web

Leslie Patrick is a freelance writer who splits her time between South Korea and a nomadic life of slow traveling around the globe. —Leslie Patrick, AFAR Media, 15 Apr. 2025

One such program, overseen by Dr. Steven John, an official at the Ministry of Health in Adamawa State, Nigeria, was implementing TB health care for nomadic populations there. —Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 30 Mar. 2025

Masud was celebrated as the literary voice of greater Arabia’s nomadic herdsmen—proud sons of the desert, a noble caste of unhurried sybarites not known for their religious orthodoxy. —Nell Zink, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025

While following a nomadic tribe in the Zagros mountains in Iran, photographer Miriam Stanke took this photo of a living room wall carefully decorated with family portraits in the home of a semi-nomadic family. —Sukjong Hong, Curbed, 21 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek nomadikós "of a shepherd or herdsman, pastoral," from nomad-, nomás "wanderer, shepherd, nomad" + -ikos -ic entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1818, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for nomadic

• dyadic
• faradic
• monadic
• sporadic
• triadic
• haddock
• paddock