vagabond

/ˌvægəˈbɑnd/

/ˈvægəbɒnd/

Other forms: vagabonds; vagabonding; vagabonded

A vagabond is someone who moves around a lot. Picture Boxcar Willie, bandana on a stick thrown over his shoulder, going wherever the breeze takes him.

Vagabond can also be an adjective, a nomadic tribe is a vagabond one, or the person who moved eight times in two years is living a vagabond life. It's from the Latin word vagabundus (from vagari, "wander") which means "inclined to wander." So — if you were born a ramblin' man, you might just be a vagabond.

Definitions of vagabond

1. noun

   a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support
   synonyms: drifter, floater, vagrant

   types:

   beachcomber

   a vagrant living on a beach

   sundowner

   a tramp who habitually arrives at sundown

   bum, hobo, tramp

   a disreputable vagrant

   dosser, street person

   someone who sleeps in any convenient place

   type of:

   have-not, poor person

   a person with few or no possessions

   bird of passage, roamer, rover, wanderer

   someone who leads a wandering unsettled life
2. noun

   anything that resembles a vagabond in having no fixed place
   “pirate ships were vagabonds of the sea”

   type of:

   object, physical object

   a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow
3. adjective

   wandering aimlessly without ties to a place or community
   “led a vagabond life”

   synonyms: rootless

   unsettled

   not settled or established
4. adjective

   continually changing especially as from one abode or occupation to another
   synonyms: aimless, drifting, floating, vagrant

   unsettled

   not settled or established
5. verb

   move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
   “roving vagabonds”

   synonyms: cast, drift, ramble, range, roam, roll, rove, stray, swan, tramp, wander

   drift, err, stray

   wander from a direct course or at random

   wander

   go via an indirect route or at no set pace

   types:

   maunder

   wander aimlessly

   gad, gallivant, jazz around

   wander aimlessly in search of pleasure

   type of:

   go, locomote, move, travel

   change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically