adventurer
/ədˈvɛntʃ(ə)rə
/noun
1A person who enjoys or seeks adventure: every year adventurers attempt the Canol Trail using all manner of conveyances...
- Four young adventurers play hide and seek in the country home of an old professor, where they stumble upon an enchanted wardrobe that will take them places they never dreamed.
- With the invention of the plane, adventurers sought uncharted areas to explore and limits to be pushed.
- In April last year the Carterton adventurer attempted the first overflight of Mt Cook, only to be turned back by the weather as he got to within 100m of the summit.
1.1A person willing to take risks or use dishonest methods for personal gain: a political adventurer...
- As their empires' borders crept closer, so began the Great Game, a melodramatic blend of exploration and intrigue with spies, adventurers and ‘political agents’.
- Its expansive qualities are also evident in its rulership over adventurers, entrepreneurs, risk takers, investors, and explorers.
- They begin to give their backing to generals who dream of military coups, or to political adventurers and gutter journalists who try to redirect the bitterness of the mass of people against religious or ethnic minorities.
1.2 archaic A financial speculator.The man who came up with the answer was a financial adventurer called William Paterson, a Scot who had made his name down south as one of the founding directors of the Bank of England....
- The wealthy adventurer financed Ben's hunt for the treasure.
- In 1720 the Scottish adventurer John Law had attempted to set up a state bank on the promise of overseas trading profits, and had paid the king's debts in banknotes.
1.3 archaic A mercenary soldier.They began to filter into Muslim Persia in the 9th century, mainly as mercenaries and adventurers....
- This family had been German military adventurers with no connection to Brandenburg-Prussia.
- The ranks of the Swedish army by now contained many adventurers and dubious mercenaries, and it was a shadow of its former self.
Synonyms
daredevil, seeker of adventures, hero, heroine, swashbuckler, knight errant, crusader, venturer, traveller, voyager, wanderer;
buccaneer, mercenary, soldier of fortune;
Argonaut, Ulysses;
French beau sabreur
Origin
Late 15th century (denoting a gambler): from French aventurier, from aventurer 'venture upon' (see adventure).