vagabond

1 of 3

noun

vag·​a·​bond ˈva-gə-ˌbänd 

: a person who wanders from place to place without a fixed home : one leading a vagabond life

especially : vagrant, tramp

vagabondage

ˈva-gə-ˌbän-dij 

noun

vagabondism

ˈva-gə-ˌbän-ˌdi-zəm 

noun

vagabond

2 of 3

adjective

1

: moving from place to place without a fixed home : wandering

2

a

: of, relating to, or characteristic of a wanderer

b

: leading an unsettled, irresponsible, or disreputable life

vagabondish

ˈva-gə-ˌbän-dish 

adjective

vagabond

3 of 3

verb

vagabonded; vagabonding; vagabonds

intransitive verb

: to wander in the manner of a vagabond : roam about

Synonyms

Noun

• bindle stiff
• bum
• bummer
• hobo
• sundowner [Australian]
• swaggie [chiefly Australian]
• swagman [chiefly Australian]
• tramp
• vagrant

Adjective

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

Examples of vagabond in a Sentence

Noun

be wary of the vagabonds in that corner of the city

after they retired, the couple bought an RV and became footloose vagabonds

Adjective

a vagabond group of entertainers that performed in rough-and-tumble mining towns

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

On the other sideline, vagabond quarterback Sam Darnold is in the early season MVP conversation, leading the league with eight touchdown passes (though Josh Allen is the MVP favorite at the moment). —Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 27 Sep. 2024

While the vagabond quarterback has the Vikings offense humming, defensive coordinator Brian Flores has a unit that bullied C.J. Stroud and the potent Houston Texans offense in one of two matchups this weekend between 2-0 teams. —Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 23 Sep. 2024

Adjective

There are records of albatrosses spending decades living as vagabond singletons in the wrong hemisphere, Lees said. —Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2021

By modern standards, Wray's story feels like rock and roll lore that edges on pulp: As a child, he was raised in poverty in Dunn, North Carolina, and learned to play guitar from a vagabond bluesman named Hambone. —Colin Stutz, Billboard, 10 Oct. 2017

Verb

As a vagabonding aviator, Zdarsky flew his trike around Joshua Tree and Death Valley, and even over 14,505-foot-tall Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada range, nearly freezing himself in the process. —Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Aug. 2023

Providing different perspectives are a vagabonding Swedish artist and his British wife as well as an Aboriginal wrangler called Billy, whose skill as a cricket batsman has blighted his connection to his family traditions. —Alida Becker, New York Times, 5 May 2023

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English vacabounde, vagabounde, borrowed from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French vacabunde, borrowed from Late Latin vagābundus, from Latin vagārī "to wander, roam" (verbal derivative of vagus "moving freely, wandering") + -bundus, deverbal adjective suffix (akin to Latin fuī "I was," Old English bēon "to be") — more at vague, be

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1586, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

vagabond

1 of 2 adjective

vag·​a·​bond ˈvag-ə-ˌbänd 

: moving from place to place without a fixed home

vagabond

2 of 2 noun

: a person who leads a vagabond life

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English vagabond "moving about with no fixed home," from early French vacabund (same meaning), from Latin vagabundus (same meaning), from vagari "to wander about" — related to extravagant