funambulist
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- funambulism noun
Etymology
Origin of funambulist
1785–95; < Latin fūnambul ( us ) “ropedancer” (from fūn(is) “rope, line” + ambul(āre) “to walk” + -us, noun suffix; cf. funiculus, amble) + -ist
Explanation
The key to remembering funambulist is "ambulate," which comes from the Latin root meaning "to walk" — in this case referring to someone who walks on a tightrope. Funambulist isn't related to the word fun in the sense of "an enjoyable activity" — although you might find it enjoyable to learn to walk a tightrope or, if you're afraid of heights, to watch someone else walk a tightrope. The "fun" in funambulist comes from the Latin funis, or "rope."
Vocabulary lists containing funambulist
Walk the Walk: Amb
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National Spelling Bee '14: Semifinals and Finals
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jay O. Sanders, her husband, is another dramatic funambulist who has appeared in all 12 plays.
From New York Times • Sep. 9, 2021
Philippe’s mentor is an irascible Czech funambulist played, as an irascible Czech funambulist in a movie of this kind must be played, by Ben Kingsley.
From New York Times • Sep. 26, 2015
People can walk up inside the Ruckus World Trade Center, looking at its "tenants," finally meeting a diminutive figure of the funambulist Philippe Petit walking the rope between the towers.
From Time Magazine Archive
It may astonish the reader to know that the funambulist or rope-dancer was very expert with the Greeks, as also was the acrobat between knives and swords.
From The Dance (by An Antiquary) Historic Illustrations of Dancing from 3300 B.C. to 1911 A.D. by Anonymous
A funambulist may harass his muscles and risk his neck on the tight-rope, but hardly to entertain his own family.
From Biographical Essays by De Quincey, Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
