noun

vagabond

VA-guh-bond

noun

A person who wanders from place to place with no fixed home, often living hand to mouth.

"The old vagabond slept in a different town every night."

"He gave up his job and lived like a vagabond for a year, traveling with no plan."

adj

Wandering aimlessly, with no fixed direction or home.

"She led a vagabond life, never staying anywhere more than a few months."

How to Use Vagabond

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishSomeone (or something) that drifts from place to place without a settled home.

When to use it

Slightly literary or old-fashioned; "drifter" or "wanderer" are more common in casual modern speech.

Common pairings

a vagabond life wander like a vagabond

vagabonded past tense, vagabonds plural, vagabonds singular

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The old _____ slept in a different town every night.

From Old French vagabond, from Late Latin vagabundus, from Latin vagari ("to wander"). Related to "vague," which comes from the same wandering root.

bum stiff casual clochard derelict dero down-and-out down-and-outer drifter epithite floater gadling

abandoned accidental Fanny kill hard broken dupe stiff

bum stiff casual clochard derelict dero down-and-out down-and-outer drifter epithite floater gadling