Word.ws English Dictionary

adventure

Syllables: ad·ven·tureUK/ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃə//ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃɚ/

adventure noun: a feeling of desire for new and exciting things.

Noun

adventure (countable and uncountable, plural adventures)

  1. (uncountable) A feeling of desire for new and exciting things.
    • his sense of adventure
    Antonyms:
    abstention
  2. A remarkable occurrence; a striking event.
    • a life full of adventures
  3. A daring feat; a bold undertaking, in which dangers are likely to be encountered, and the issue is staked upon unforeseen events; the encountering of risks.
    • He loved excitement and adventure.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
  4. A mercantile or speculative enterprise of hazard; a venture; a shipment by a merchant on his own account.
  5. A text adventure or an adventure game.
    • The first thing to strike me about Spyplane was that it is more like a verbal simulation than an adventure.1984 May, “Spyplane”, in Crash, number 4, (review)
    • To sum up, I think this is definitely one of the best adventures around for the Spectrum now, along with Gnome Ranger[...]1988 May, Mike Gerrard, “The Guild of Thieves [review]”, in Your Sinclair, number 29, archived from the original on 26 May 2013
  6. (obsolete) That which happens by chance; hazard; hap.
  7. (obsolete) Chance of danger or loss.
    Synonyms:
    hazard
  8. (obsolete) Risk; danger; peril.
    • He was in great adventure of his life.1895, Lord Berners, transl., The Chronicles of Froissart

Verb

adventure (third-person singular simple present adventures, present participle adventuring, simple past and past participle adventured)

  1. (archaic, reflexive) To risk oneself.
    • O man cõmyttynge thy lyfe vnto the ſtreme / Alas note well thy deſyrous vanyte / Howe thou the [thee] auentereſt in holowe beame / To pas the ſee in contynuall ieopardye […]1509 December 24 (Gregorian calendar), [Sebastian Brant], translated by Alexander Barclay, “Of Folysshe Exchanges Scorsyngꝭ ⁊ Ꝑmutacions”, in […] The Shyp of Folys of the Worlde […], London: […]...
    • And certaine of the chiefe of Aſia, which were his friends, ſent vnto him, deſiring him that he would not aduenture himſelfe into the Theatre.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 19:31, signature [N6], recto, column 2
    Synonyms:
    venture
  2. (intransitive) To risk oneself; to dare to go somewhere or undertake something.
    • [A]fter the confusion of tongues, when Japhet and his posteretie, emboldened by example of Noe, adventured by shipp into diverse west ilelandes, […]c. 1571, Edmund Campion, edited by A[lphonsus] F[ranciscus] Vossen, Two Bokes of the Histories of Ireland […], Assen, Drenthe: Van Gorcum & Comp N.V. […], published 1963, →OCLC, page 28
    • Why, we wil ſet forth before or after them, and appoint them a place of meeting, wherein it is at our pleaſure to faile; and then wil they aduenture vpõ the exploit themſelues, which they ſhal haue no ſooner atchieued but weele ſet vpon them.c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]...
    Synonyms:
    venture
  3. (archaic, intransitive, with infinitive) To try the chance; to take the risk.
    • What? threat you me with telling of the King? I will auoucht’t in preſence of the King: I dare aduenture to be ſent to th’Towre.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • Yet they adventured to go back; but it was ſo dark, and the flood was ſo high, that in their going back, they had like to have been drowned nine or ten times.1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 150
    Synonyms:
    venture
  4. (transitive) To dare to say or utter.
    • But were I to adventure an opinion I would affirm that, were the Vice-Preſident now in this city, he would himſelf be mute!1802 June 22, [James Cheetham], “Introduction”, in A View of the Political Conduct of Aaron Burr, Esq., Vice-President of the United States, New York, N.Y.: […] Denniston & Cheetham, […], →OCLC, page...
    • ‘Did he tell you about us?’ she adventured, cautiously.1899, L[ucy] B[ethia] Walford, “One of Ourselves”, in Longman’s Magazine, volume XXXV, number CCIX, London; New York, N.Y.; Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], published March 1900, →ISSN, →OCLC...
    Synonyms:
    venture
  5. (archaic, transitive) To venture upon; to run the risk of; to dare.
    • Now if it ſo be that it woulde happely be thought not a thyng metely to be aduentured to ſet all on a fluſhe at ones, and daſhe raſhelye out holye ſcrypture in euerye lewde felowes teeth: […]1528, Thomas More, “A Dialogue Concernynge Heresyes & Matters of Religion […]. The .16. Chapiter. The Messẽger Rehearseth Some Causes Which He Hath Herd Laid by Some of yͤ Clergie: […].”, in Wyllyam...
    • Discriminations might be adventured.c. 1860, Isaac Taylor, Heads in Groups
    Synonyms:
    venture
  6. (transitive) To risk or hazard; jeopard.
    • Foꝛ what wiſe merchaunt aduentureth all his good in one ſhip?c. 1513 (date written), Thomas More, “The History of King Richard the Thirde (Vnfinished) […]”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London...
    • So it is reaſon, that wher the citizen aduentureth his lyfe, there the citie ſhould doe him ſome honor after his death.1557, Anthony of Gueuara [i.e., Antonio de Guevara], “Where the Auctoure Speaketh of the Byrthe, and Lynage, of the Wyse Philosopher and Emperoure, Marcus Aurelius. […]”, in Thomas North, transl....
    Synonyms:
    venture

adventure meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

adventure in Tamil

சாகச செயல், சாகசம், துணிவான செயல், துணிசெயல், துணிந்து செய், எதிர்பாராத சிறப்புச் சம்பவம்

adventure in Urdu

مُہِم, کار نُمایاں, ماجرا, جوکھَم, واقِعہ, سانِحَہ

adventure in Bengali

দুঃসাহসিক অভিযান

adventure in Malayalam

encountering of risks
സാഹസം sāhasaṁ
to risk
സാഹസപ്പെടുക sāhasappeṭuka
to run the risk of
സാഹസമെടുക്കുക sāhasameṭukkuka
More languagesFewer languages
adventure in Kannada
ಸಾಹಸ, ಸಾಹಸ ಕಾರ್ಯ, ಶೌರ್ಯದ ಕೆಲಸ, ಕುತ್ತದ ಕೆಲಸ
adventure in Sanskrit
साहस sāhasa
adventure in Tagalog
pakikipagsapalaran
adventure in Arabic
مُخَاطَرَة muḵāṭara, مُغَامَرَة muḡāmara, حَادِثَة ḥādiṯa, مُجَازَفَة mujāzafa
adventure in Malay
pengembaraan
adventure in Indonesian
petualangan, avontur, risiko
adventure in Persian
حادثه hâdese, ماجرا mâjarâ
adventure in Thai
การผจญภัย gaan-pà-jon-pai, การเสี่ยงภัย
adventure in Vietnamese
phiêu lưu, mạo hiểm

Examples of adventure in a sentence

  • Before you sit down in front of your Speccy to play an adventure, equip yourself with a pencil, eraser and plenty of paper.1992 October, Larry Horsfield, “The SU Guide to Playing and Writing Adventure Games”, in Sinclair User, number 128:
  • “Are you Christians?” shouted he, before he would adventure himself near the ship.1866, C[harles] Kingsley, “How Hereward Was Wrecked upon the Flanders Shore”, in Hereward the Wake, “Last of the English.” […], volume I...
  • We adventured ourselves into the unknown recesses of the house, and sat gingerly on greasy horsehair-seated chairs, in the parlour, […]1903, E[dith] Œ[none] Somerville, Martin Ross [pseudonym; Violet Florence Martin], “The Dane’s Breechin’”, in All on the Irish Shore: Irish...
  • Teachers whose powers of mathematical and scientific thought are undeveloped may feel encouraged by these records to adventure themselves into the child’s wonderful world of discovery.1973, Alice Yardley, “[Index] Discovering the Physical World”, in Young Children Thinking, New York, N.Y.: Citation Press, →ISBN, page 142:

All 40 example sentences with adventure

Synonyms of adventure

10 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of adventure

Forms of adventure

Noun
pluraladventures
alternative form (obsolete)aventure
Verb
third-person singular presentadventures
present participleadventuring
past participleadventured
pastadventured
second-person singular present (archaic)adventurest
second-person singular past (archaic)adventuredst
third-person singular present (archaic)adventureth

Plural of adventure: adventures

Origin of adventure

From Middle English aventure, aunter, anter, from Old French aventure, from Vulgar Latin *adventūra, from Latin adventūrus (“about to arrive, (Vulgar Latin) about to happen”), future active participle of adveniō (“to arrive”), which in the Romance languages took the sense of "to happen, befall" (see also advene). By surface analysis, advent + -ure. Compare Scots adventur, Swedish äventyr, German Abenteuer.

From Middle English aventuren, auntren, from Old French aventurer, from aventure.

Words formed from adventure

Phrases with adventure

Questions about adventure

What does adventure mean?
Adventure means a feeling of desire for new and exciting things.
What is adventure in Tamil?
Adventure in Tamil is சாகச செயல், சாகசம், துணிவான செயல். See Adventure meaning in Tamil.
How do you use adventure in a sentence?
Before you sit down in front of your Speccy to play an adventure, equip yourself with a pencil, eraser and plenty of paper.
What part of speech is adventure?
Adventure can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce adventure?
Adventure is pronounced /ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/ (UK).
What is the plural of adventure?
The plural of adventure is adventures.

Words near adventure in the dictionary

  1. adventively
  2. adventives
  3. adventral
  4. advents
  5. adventual
  6. adventure
  7. Adventure Bay
  8. adventure education
  9. adventure game
  10. adventure games
  11. adventure playground

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: adventure (page history and authors); adventure (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); adventure (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); adventure (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); adventure (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); साहस (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-adventure.ogg, en-ca-adventure.ogg.

Cite this entry: “adventure.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/adventure. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.