passenger
Americannoun
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a person who is traveling in an automobile, bus, train, airplane, or other conveyance, especially one who is not the driver, pilot, or the like.
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a wayfarer; traveler.
noun
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a person travelling in a car, train, boat, etc, not driven by him
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( as modifier )
a passenger seat
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a member of a group or team who is a burden on the others through not participating fully in the work
Other Word Forms
- nonpassenger noun
Etymology
Origin of passenger
1300–50; Middle English passager < Middle French, noun use of passag ( i ) er (adj.) passing, temporary; passage 1, -ier 2; for -n- messenger, harbinger, scavenger, popinjay
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.
This makes it a welcome passenger on lazy day trips or late-night drives, and a generally acceptable ambient addition to crowded good times.
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026
Nobody was injured in the crash, but Woods had to crawl out of the passenger door to free himself.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
One of the boys opened the passenger door and sat down next to her.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
Though still in the experimental phase, one stretch in Munich has already taken a human passenger for a ride.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
But as they walked back to the car, Gloria raced ahead and jumped in the front passenger seat, calling out, “I’m going to sit here if it kills me!”
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
