sailor
noun
Simple meaning
A person who works or travels on a boat or ship.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
saylerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈseɪlɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
A person who sails sailing boats (as opposed to boats powered by other means) as a sport or recreation.
Any member of a ship's crew
In particular, a member of the crew of a (civilian or military) vessel, as opposed to a captain, admiral, etc.; a mariner; a common seaman.
A stiff hat made of straw with a flat crown
A brick, for example in a course of brickwork, that is laid vertically on its shortest end (smallest face), with its widest face facing the outside of the wall.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
Used this way, sailor is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a nautical use: it is standard at sea and largely unfamiliar ashore.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Sailing/maritime
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use sailor
- “The sailor navigated the ship across the vast ocean.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A serviceman in the navy.
A cap worn by sailors.
A boy's ensemble.
A grunt found from Florida to Brazil and Gulf of Mexico.
In the Arabian Nights a hero who tells of the fantastic adventures he had in his voyages.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The work of a sailor.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.