Synonyms of vagabond

vagabond 1 of 3

noun

ˈva-gə-ˌbänd 

1

as in hobo

a homeless wanderer who may beg or steal for a living

be wary of the vagabonds in that corner of the city

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hobo
• beggar
• tramp
• bum
• vagrant
• transient
• swagman
• swaggie
• drifter
• derelict
• mendicant
• roamer
• sundowner
• bindle stiff
• dodger
• bummer
• panhandler
• waif
• ragamuffin
• urchin
• shirker
• slacker
• malingerer
• stiff
• gamine

2

as in nomad

a person who roams about without a fixed route or destination

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• nomad
• traveler
• wanderer
• drifter
• wayfarer
• bird of passage
• gadabout
• roamer
• knockabout
• rambler
• rover
• hobo
• passenger
• maunderer
• sojourner
• stroller
• loiterer
• straggler
• laggard
• migrant
• tramp
• sightseer
• lingerer
• bum
• vagrant
• transient
• ambler
• saunterer

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• resident
• inhabitant
• dweller
• homebody
• settler
• denizen
• habitant

vagabond

2 of 3

adjective

as in nomadic

traveling from place to place

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• nomadic
• nomad
• itinerant
• peregrine
• roaming
• peripatetic
• vagrant
• migrant
• wayfaring
• wandering
• roving
• ambulatory
• fugitive
• on the move
• ranging
• ambulant
• migratory
• errant
• perambulatory
• gallivanting
• walking
• footloose
• rambling
• drifting
• meandering
• sauntering
• traipsing
• strolling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• static
• stationary
• standing
• settled
• immobile
• motionless
• still
• nonmoving

vagabond

3 of 3

verb

as in to tramp

Related Words

• tramp
• hobo
• mill (about or around)
• mope
• dawdle
• stroll
• saunter
• stray
• amble
• straggle
• roam
• rove
• wander
• knock (about)
• meander
• drift
• float
• traipse
• ramble
• bat
• gallivant
• cruise
• range
• gad (about)
• mooch
• maunder
• kick around

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of vagabond

Noun

Astronomers reckon there could be a whole bunch of these vagabond rogue planets out there, maybe as many as 21 for every star in our Milky Way galaxy. — Paul Sutter, Space.com, 21 Mar. 2026

Long the purview of vagabond surfers, its coastline is peppered with small towns, like Venao, Guanico, and Cambutal, that are in various stages of being reshaped by bohemian expats. — David Amsden, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Dec. 2025

Adjective

The coaches are no different—and have been vagabond for longer. — Max Olson, The Athletic, 12 July 2024

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

Verb

The jam band scene – long reigned over by groups like the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band – exploded in the Nineties as newer artists like Phish and Widespread Panic began filling arenas and fomenting their own rabid vagabonding fanbases. — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 9 July 2025

In 1978, Wenner sold the magazine to Larry Burke, a young man from Chicago who had spent a chunk of his twenties vagabonding around Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. — Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2025