astronaut

noun

as·​tro·​naut ˈa-strə-ˌnȯt 

-ˌnät

plural astronauts

: a person whose profession is to travel beyond the earth's atmosphere

NASA on Wednesday introduced the group of astronauts it has chosen for upcoming missions to the moon. The program, called Artemis, aims to send people back to the moon for the first time since the end of NASA's Apollo program in 1972.

—Kenneth Chang

broadly : any person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere

William Shatner, the 90-year-old actor of "Star Trek" fame, endured a 10-minute, rocket-powered ride to the edge of space … . In that moment, at least one thing became certain: Yes, a nonagenarian can be an astronaut.

—Jackie Wattles

Word Icons

Examples of astronaut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Gaga treated the irrepressible medium of dance pop as a jet pack to send herself, like a curious astronaut, to the outer edges of fame. —Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025

Two of those astronauts, NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Aleksandr Gorbunov, arrived aboard the orbital laboratory last September aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom, which was flown with two additional, empty seats. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 12 Mar. 2025

Today is the 102nd birthday of Apollo 7 astronaut Wally Schirra, who won an Emmy award for filming a TV show in space while suffering from a bad cold. —Kiona N. Smith, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

However, speaking with CNN last month, the astronauts pushed back on that claim. —David Chiu, People.com, 12 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

astro- + -naut (in aeronaut)

Note: See note at astronautics.

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for astronaut

• aeronaut
• aforethought
• afterthought
• apricot
• argonaut
• camelot
• coffeepot
• concordat
• cosmonaut
• entrepot
• flowerpot
• huguenot

Kids Definition

astronaut

noun

as·​tro·​naut ˈas-trə-ˌnȯt 

-nät

: a traveler in a spacecraft

astronautic

ˌas-trə-ˈnȯt-ik

adjective

or astronautical

-i-kəl,

-nät-

Etymology

from astro- "star, heavens" (derived from Greek astron "star") and -naut (derived from Greek nautēs "sailor," from naus "ship") — related to nausea, nautical see Word History at nausea