: a temporary stay
a sojourn in the country
sojourned; sojourning; sojourns
: to stay as a temporary resident : stop
sojourned for a month at a resort
sojourner
noun
so·journ·er
-nə(r)
plural -s
Examples of sojourn in a Sentence
Noun (1)
The visit with my father was preceded by a sojourn with my sister, Joy—an artistic type and sometime vegan who plays the part of patient vegetarian whenever her unrepentantly carnivorous brother drops in—and her husband, who were kind enough to pick me up at Heathrow.
—
John Haney, Gourmet, January 2003
On a recent sojourn in Sicily, I frequently found myself remembering that page in the children's encyclopedia, because it seemed to me that what I was seeing was as close as I will ever come to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
—Francine Prose, Atlantic, December 2002
My mother is Venezuelan, and every year during my childhood we spent a two-month sojourn with her family there.
—Alexandra Starr, New Republic, 20 May 2002
Our family enjoyed a two-week sojourn in the mountains.
spent a relaxing sojourn in her friend's summer home
Verb
'Am I hideous, Jane?' 'Very, sir: you always were, you know.' 'Humph! The wickedness has not been taken out of you, wherever you have sojourned.'
—Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847
… there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity.
—Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleep Hollow, 1820
began their retirement by leisurely sojourning with friends and relatives scattered across the country
John Haney, Gourmet, January 2003
On a recent sojourn in Sicily, I frequently found myself remembering that page in the children's encyclopedia, because it seemed to me that what I was seeing was as close as I will ever come to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
—Francine Prose, Atlantic, December 2002
My mother is Venezuelan, and every year during my childhood we spent a two-month sojourn with her family there.
—Alexandra Starr, New Republic, 20 May 2002
Our family enjoyed a two-week sojourn in the mountains.
spent a relaxing sojourn in her friend's summer home
Verb
'Am I hideous, Jane?' 'Very, sir: you always were, you know.' 'Humph! The wickedness has not been taken out of you, wherever you have sojourned.'
—Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847
… there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity.
—Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleep Hollow, 1820
began their retirement by leisurely sojourning with friends and relatives scattered across the country
Recent Examples on the Web
Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 8 June 2026
Ernst Baerwald’s odyssey from a cushy childhood in Frankfurt to his final days in a beautiful Berkeley mansion, with a long sojourn in Tokyo along the way, reads like, well, a novel.
—Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026
Wendy Altschuler, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
The young woman who sojourned to Oberlin College, where she was wrongfully accused of poisoning her classmates and beaten half to death, who raised her hands in defense of herself, then went on to grip clay and rock and chisel to re-create visions of justice.
—Tyehimba Jess, ARTnews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sojourn
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Noun
As shoppers gear up for their European summer sojourns, brands are beating the tourist rush and setting up shop across the continent with temporary seasonal stores, beach club pop-ups and limited-time activations to capture the attention and dollars of the high-spending set.
—Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 8 June 2026
Ernst Baerwald’s odyssey from a cushy childhood in Frankfurt to his final days in a beautiful Berkeley mansion, with a long sojourn in Tokyo along the way, reads like, well, a novel.
—Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026
Verb
Trails for Backpackers And for those who are sojourning in nature on foot, Pearson recommends the Greenstone Ridge Trail at Isle Royale National Park.
—Wendy Altschuler, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
The young woman who sojourned to Oberlin College, where she was wrongfully accused of poisoning her classmates and beaten half to death, who raised her hands in defense of herself, then went on to grip clay and rock and chisel to re-create visions of justice.
—Tyehimba Jess, ARTnews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sojourn
Cite this Entry
“Sojourn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sojourn. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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