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
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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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in nomadic
traveling from place to place
a vagabond group of entertainers that performed in rough-and-tumble mining towns
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vagabond
Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 25 July 2025
And in all likelihood, Daniel Johnson and Dominic Smith will be part of that club of guys who will only be remembered as excellent Immaculate Grid plays — baseball vagabonds who were scooped up in a hurry to set up camp in San Francisco for a few games or a few weeks.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 5 June 2025
Colin Stutz, Billboard, 10 Oct. 2017
Hill’s book teems with sloppy and obvious devices (to the point of cliche), including a vagabond narrator (Steve Pacek) preempting for us the obvious songs that require no explanation.
—Jim Rutter, Philly.com, 24 Sep. 2017
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
See All Example Sentences for vagabond
Noun
Folk Rock Since the twenty-tens, the L.A. folk-rock band Lord Huron has offered a captivating take on Americana, filled with vagabonds and pariahs hoping to avoid haunted afterlives.
—Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 25 July 2025
And in all likelihood, Daniel Johnson and Dominic Smith will be part of that club of guys who will only be remembered as excellent Immaculate Grid plays — baseball vagabonds who were scooped up in a hurry to set up camp in San Francisco for a few games or a few weeks.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 5 June 2025
Adjective
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
Hill’s book teems with sloppy and obvious devices (to the point of cliche), including a vagabond narrator (Steve Pacek) preempting for us the obvious songs that require no explanation.
—Jim Rutter, Philly.com, 24 Sep. 2017
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
See All Example Sentences for vagabond
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vagabond
Noun
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In fact, she was also seen wearing these kicks in New York back in May, pairing the sneakers her aforementioned Hammitt hobo bag with gunmetal grommets.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
21 Dec. 2025
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One mask depicts a frowning hobo with a 5 o'clock shadow that represents the aforementioned vagrant.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Dec. 2025
Noun
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However, the wheels are just intended for minor on-site movements, not for towing on a public road, so this isn't a good choice for would-be nomads.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Best Hotels & Resorts Nomad Hotel Dieter Roelen and Monica Mascaros, the husband-and-wife duo behind Nomad Hotel, spent 20 years living like nomads and traveling around the world.—
Liz Provencher,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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After two decades, the Max Mara Art Prize for Women is becoming nomadic.—
Luisa Zargani,
Footwear News,
22 Jan. 2026
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View gallery - 8 images Commissioned for a customer who wants to enjoy a nomadic retirement, the Tiny Birdy has a compact interior layout that sleeps up to two people and runs fully off-grid with solar power.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Imagine The Goonies with a half dozen adults tramping through the caves.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
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Virginia Woolf tramped along the Cornish coast; Oliver Sacks was known to swim; Haruki Murakami is an accomplished runner.—
Bonnie Tsui,
The Atlantic,
20 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In the old days beggars were drawn and quartered in that square.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
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In Havana, beggars are ubiquitous.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Then in June 2024, that larger limit was revoked for all airports and the 100ml rule reintroduced, to the fury of many airports and travelers.—
Duncan Madden,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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Uzbekistan’s announcement comes at a time when the Central Asian country, best known for its ancient Islamic architecture and cornerstone role in the Silk Road, is seeing a boom in US travelers.—
Brittany Chang,
Condé Nast Traveler,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Aspen, Colorado In 1989, when a five-star, ski-in, ski-out hotel called the Little Nell opened on the site of a ski-bum bar, Aspen left its counterculture hippie days in the dust and transitioned to an A-list playground.—
Amy Tara Koch,
Robb Report,
29 Jan. 2026
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The adventurous actress dirties up her frock and face to play the village pariah, who reeks of fish and would be no man’s idea of a suitable wife, except perhaps the one-eyed bum who sleeps in the town square.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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There’s a cast of wanderers, visionaries, and itinerants, the self-educated and self-published, a long lineage of cranks and outcasts, mostly penurious, always opinionated, stretching away into the mists of pseudohistory.—
Hari Kunzru,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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This Victorian town of just over 2,000 is a diverse blend of artists, spiritual seekers, motorcyclists, weekend wanderers, and retirees.—
Symiah Dorsey,
Southern Living,
19 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Vagabond.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vagabond. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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