tourist noun definition

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Definition of tourist

• excursionist
• rubbernecker
• traveller
• tripper [ chiefly British ]

Examples of tourist in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tourist.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1775, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing tourist

tourist attractions

• tourist card
• tourist class
• tourist court
• tourist season
• tourist trap

Dictionary Entries Near tourist

Cite this entry.

“Tourist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tourist. Accessed 29 Sep. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of tourist, more from merriam-webster on tourist.

Nglish: Translation of tourist for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of tourist for Arabic Speakers

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Definition of 'tourist'

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tourist in British English

Tourist in american english, examples of 'tourist' in a sentence tourist, cobuild collocations tourist, trends of tourist.

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Browse alphabetically tourist

• tourism promotion
• tourism revenue
• tourism trade
• tourist accommodation
• tourist agency
• tourist area
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'T'

Related terms of tourist

• tourist bus
• tourist car
• tourist hub
• tourist tax
• death tourist
• View more related words

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tourism noun

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What does the noun tourism mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun tourism . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the noun tourism ?

How is the noun tourism pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun tourism come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun tourism is in the 1810s.

OED's earliest evidence for tourism is from 1811, in Sporting Magazine .

tourism is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: tour n. , ‑ism suffix .

Nearby entries

• tourette, n.¹ 1881–
• Tourette, n.² 1899–
• Tourettism, n. 1981–
• tourification, n. 1802–
• tourify, v. 1820–
• tourifying, adj. 1825–
• touring, n. 1818–
• touring, adj. 1832–
• touring-car, n. 1903–
• touring-sedan, n. 1915–
• tourism, n. 1811–
• tourist, n. 1780–
• tourist, v. 1953–
• tourist cabin, n. 1928–
• tourist-car, n. 1895–
• tourist card, n. 1971–
• tourist centre | tourist center, n. 1922–
• tourist class, n. 1936–
• tourist court, n. 1937–
• touristdom, n. 1888–
• touristed, adj. 1873–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for tourism, n..

tourism, n. was first published in 1913; not yet revised.

tourism, n. was last modified in July 2023.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into tourism, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1913)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View tourism in OED Second Edition

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Citation details

Factsheet for tourism, n., browse entry.

• 1.1 Etymology
• 1.2 Pronunciation
• 1.3.1 Derived terms
• 1.3.2 Related terms
• 1.3.3 Descendants
• 1.3.4 Translations
• 1.4.1 Translations
• 1.5 Further reading

From tour +‎ -ist . Doublet of turista .

Pronunciation

• ( Received Pronunciation ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈtʊəɹɪst/ , /ˈtɔːɹɪst/
• ( US ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈtʊɹ.ɪst/ , /ˈtɝ.ɪst/ , /ˈtɔɹ.ɪst/
• Rhymes: ( Received Pronunciation ) -ʊəɹɪst , -ɔːɹɪst

tourist ( plural tourists )

• 1897 December (indicated as 1898 ), Winston Churchill , chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode , New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company ; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. , →OCLC : Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist , and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
• 2005 , Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs , Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, page 94 : The group operating where we were was called the "Abu Sayyaf" and specialised in K&R (kidnap and ransom), usually of tourists who would finish up beheaded on TV.
• 1999 , David Fincher, director, Fight Club , spoken by The Narrator (Edward Norton): Marla - the big tourist . The faker.
• ( sports , informal ) A member of the visiting team in a match.
• 1984 , Dean Gengle, The Netweaver's Sourcebook , page 105 : This popularity was supposedly due to M.I.T.'s tolerance of " tourists " on its system.
• 2012 , Michael Banks, On the Way to the Web : The online tourists then uploaded the files to share with other BBS aficionados.

Derived terms

• abortion tourist
• agritourist
• antitourist
• architourist
• astrotourist
• bicycle tourist
• class tourist
• cybertourist
• dark tourist
• disaster tourist
• ethnotourist
• gastrotourist
• grief tourist
• posttourist
• romance tourist
• sex tourist
• six bob a day tourist
• space tourist
• suicide tourist
• sustainable tourist
• ten pound tourist
• ten-pound tourist
• tourist agency
• tourist area
• tourist attraction
• tourist card
• tourist court
• tourist destination
• tourist guide
• tourist highway
• touristification
• touristlike
• tourist office
• tourist police
• touristscape
• tourist trap
• tourist trappy
• tourist tree
• tourist visa
• voluntourist

Translations

tourist ( third-person singular simple present tourists , present participle touristing , simple past and past participle touristed )

• 2020 November 4, Sarah Firshein, “Forget Long Weekends: During the Pandemic It’s All About Short Weeks”, in The New York Times ‎ [1] : “You can’t go touristing anymore like you used to, but weekends away — traditionally crammed into sneaking out of work slightly early on a Friday in a dash to have some repose — now mean heading out on a Wednesday night, logging on to work and coming back Monday night,” said Tom Caton, the co-founder and chief revenue officer of AirDNA [ … ]

Further reading

• English terms suffixed with -ist
• English doublets
• English 2-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English terms with audio links
• Rhymes:English/ʊəɹɪst
• Rhymes:English/ʊəɹɪst/2 syllables
• Rhymes:English/ɔːɹɪst
• Rhymes:English/ɔːɹɪst/2 syllables
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
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[ toor -ist ]

• a person who is traveling, especially for pleasure.
• tourist class .

to travel tourist.

/ ˈtʊərɪst /

• a person who travels for pleasure, usually sightseeing and staying in hotels

tourist attractions

• a person on an excursion or sightseeing tour
• a person travelling abroad as a member of a sports team that is playing a series of usually international matches
• Also calledtourist class the lowest class of accommodation on a passenger ship
• of or relating to tourist accommodation

Derived Forms

• tourˈistic , adjective

Other Words From

• non·tourist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of tourist 1

Example Sentences

South Dakota is the more tourist-friendly, slightly better weather, historic Mount Rushmore spot.

Amsterdam has an economy which is highly dependent on tourists.

Travelers, however, are eligible to have the tax refunded on goods they take home with them, which is what agencies such as Planet specialize in facilitating, giving it a clear view of how much tourists are buying.

In June, when peak season is typically getting underway, tourist spending was still 98% below its level last year based on Planet’s data.

Besides feeling safe, tourists may also be lured to local destinations given international travel currently comes with complicated quarantine protocols by governments in different countries.

Its graceful hotels and beautiful restaurants are totally dependent on the tourist trade.

It is the only tourist center Ukraine has left on the Black Sea, since Russia annexed Crimea last spring.

For the Brogpas, transforming into a tourist attraction may offer their community a way to generate much-needed income.

The two islands are now tourist sites for visitors from Taiwan and mainland China.

Not all Israeli gay propaganda is pinkwashing—a lot of it is good, old-fashioned PR to attract gay tourist dollars to Tel Aviv.

The tourist climbing tna, or Vesuvius' rugged side, puffs on though they perchance have long since ceased to smoke.

They have developed fishing and agriculture, and have brought the tourist into districts little visited before.

Mr. Frank Cook had insisted upon our being the guests of his firm on their tourist steamer Amasis.

My father knew him well, often talked to me about him, and told me stories of the excursion and tourist trade in its early days.

This was the first small beginning of that great tourist business which now encircles the habitable globe.

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Definition of travel noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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Meaning of travel in English

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travel verb ( MAKE JOURNEY )

• I like to travel but, then again, I'm very fond of my home .
• It's often quicker to travel across country and avoid the major roads altogether .
• Passengers without proper documentation will not be allowed to travel.
• The elderly travel free on public transport .
• We like to travel in the autumn when there are fewer tourists .
• The tragedy is that cultures don't always travel well, and few immigrant groups can sustain their culture over the long term .
• active transportation
• active travel
• around Robin Hood's barn idiom
• first class
• on the go idiom
• overnighter
• peripatetically
• public transport

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

travel verb ( MOVE )

• The objects travel in elliptical orbits .
• In 1947, a pilot flying over the Cascades saw nine metallic flying objects travelling at an estimated 1,200 miles per hour .
• The elevator travelled smoothly upward .
• White light separates out into its component wavelengths when travelling through a prism .
• As the material travels through the winding machine , excess liquid is squeezed out by rollers .
• Lead dust travels easily from hands to mouth and can't be seen .
• body English
• budge up phrasal verb
• hyperkinetic
• recirculation
• repair to somewhere phrasal verb

travel verb ( BREAK RULE )

• goaltending
• granny shot
• half-court press
• reverse dribble
• reverse pivot
• rocker step

travel noun ( ACTIVITY )

• They offer a 10 percent discount on rail travel for students .
• The price includes travel and accommodation but meals are extra .
• His work provided him with the opportunity for a lot of foreign travel.
• The popular myth is that air travel is more dangerous than travel by car or bus .
• Passes are available for one month's unlimited travel within Europe .
• break-journey
• circumnavigation

travel noun ( MOVEMENT OF OBJECT )

• It can be difficult to predict the travel of smoke from smouldering fires .
• The travel of the bullets and blood spatter showed that he was lying on the ground on his side when he was shot .
• This seemed to prove that light has a finite speed of travel.
• Striking the ball when the clubhead is already past the lowest point of its travel gives a slight overspin.
• The actuator then rotates its output shaft to the extremes of its travel.
• bring someone on phrasal verb
• non-competition
• non-competitive
• non-competitor
• park the bus idiom
• sportsmanship
• step/move up a gear idiom

travel | American Dictionary

Travel | business english, examples of travel, collocations with travel.

These are words often used in combination with travel .

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Translations of travel

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the soft part of your face that is below your eye and between your mouth and ear

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• travel (MAKE JOURNEY)
• travel light
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