sailor

Syllables: sail·or/ˈseɪ.lə//ˈseɪ.lɚ/

sailor noun: a person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.

Image: unknown. from the collection of Matthews, James Skitt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

sailor (plural sailors)

A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
- He's a talented sailor and has spent many years at sea.
Synonyms:

seafarer, seaman, mariner
1. In particular, a member of the crew of a (civilian or military) vessel, as opposed to a captain, admiral, etc.; a mariner; a common seaman.
  - Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, […] naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.1873, Jules Verne, chapter I, in [anonymous], transl., Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas; […], James R. Osgood edition, Boston, Mass.: Geo[rge] M[urray] Smith & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 3
  - Mary is a sailor
    dreaming of northern shores
    lost galleons on the sea
    Mary ever on her way2008, Cécile Corbel, “Mary”, in Songbook vol. 2 (CD), performed by Cécile Corbel, Brittany: Keltia Musique
2. A person who sails sailing boats (as opposed to boats powered by other means) as a sport or recreation.
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Neptis, Pseudoneptis and Phaedyma, having white markings on a dark base and commonly flying by gliding.
A stiff straw hat with a flat, circular brim and a low, flat crown.
- Straw Sailors. Children's large-leaf straw sailors, in new shapes, smooth or rough straw . Sizes 6 to 64. 80c, $1.00, $1.50 and $2.00. Milan sailors in new, large shapes, with white or cream ribbon.1909, Albert E. Edgar, How to Advertise a Retail Store, Including Mail Order Advertising and General Advertising: A Complete and Comprehensive Manual for Promoting Publicity, page 332
- […]the trade that was done for some year in sailors for ladies. […] Developments of a fancifu nature in the brim formation in the direction of what is known as a "Breton" sailor, of which the characteristic is a slightly upturned edge, were the first to be made, […] But to-day, with the exception...2023 October 20, Harry Inwards, Straw Hats: Their history and manufacture, Good Press
A brick, for example in a course of brickwork, that is laid vertically on its shortest end (smallest face), with its widest face facing the outside of the wall.

Proper noun capitalized: Sailor

Sailor (plural Sailors)

A surname.

sailor meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

sailor in Hindi

worker on a ship, seafarer, mariner: नाविक nāvik, मल्लाह mallāh, जहाज़ी jahāzī, माँझी māñjhī, केवट kevaṭ, लशकर laśkar

sailor in Tamil

worker on a ship, seafarer, mariner: மாலுமி mālumi

sailor in Marathi

worker on a ship, seafarer, mariner: खलाशी khalāśī

sailor in Urdu

worker on a ship, seafarer, mariner: مَلَّاح mallāh, خَلاصی xalāsī, جَہاز ران jahāz rān, جَہازی jahāzī, ناوِک nāvik

More languagesFewer languages

sailor in Bengali: নাবিক nabik, মাল্লা malla
sailor in Telugu: నావికుడు nāvikuḍu
sailor in Malayalam: ഖലാസി khalāsi
sailor in Kannada: ಹಡಗಾಳು, ನಾವಿಕ, ಕಲಾಸಿ, ಕರ್ಣಧಾರ
sailor in Punjabi: ਜਹਾਜ਼ੀ jahāzī, ਮਲਾਹ malāh, ਜਹਾਜ਼ਰਾਨ jahāzrān
sailor in Gujarati: ખલાસી khalāsī, વહાણવટી vahāṇavṭī, જહાજી jahājī, નાવિક nāvik
sailor in Odia: ନାବିକ nābika
sailor in Sanskrit: नाविक nāvika
sailor in Assamese: নাৱিক nawik
sailor in Nepali: नाविक, नाबिक
sailor in Pashto: ماڼګى maṇgay, ملاح malāh
sailor in Arabic: بَحَّار baḥḥār, بَحْرِيّ baḥriyy, مَلَّاح mallāḥ, نُوتِيّ nūtiyy
sailor in Malay: anak kapal, kelasi, pelayar, pelaut
sailor in Indonesian: pelayar, pelaut, kelasi
sailor in Thai: กะลาสี gà-laa-sǐi, ลูกเรือ lûuk-rʉʉa, ทหารเรือ tá-hǎan-rʉʉa, นาวิก naa-wík
sailor in Vietnamese: thuỷ thủ, lính thuỷ
sailor in Myanmar: ခလာသီ hka.lasi, သင်္ဘောသား sangbhau:sa:
Sindhi: سيلاني selāne

Examples of sailor in a sentence

He charmed her with his dashing tales of his days as a sailor.
The sailors had taken many gambles with the sea and always won.
The Royal Navy used to issue a rum ration to sailors.

All 40 example sentences with sailor

Synonyms of sailor

6 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of sailor

Forms of sailor

Noun
plural	sailors
alternative form (obsolete)	sailour
Proper noun
plural	Sailors

Plural of sailor: sailors

Origin of sailor

Alteration of earlier sailer, from Middle English sailer, sayler, saylere, equivalent to sail + -or. Cognate with German Segler (“sailor”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English marinel, marynell (“sailor”) borrowed from Old French marinel (“sailor”). See mariner.

Phrases with sailor

2 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with sailor

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about sailor

What does sailor mean?: Sailor means a person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
What is sailor in Hindi?: Sailor in Hindi is नाविक (nāvik), मल्लाह (mallāh), जहाज़ी (jahāzī). See Sailor meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is sailor?: Sailor can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce sailor?: Sailor is pronounced /ˈseɪ.lɚ/ (US).
What is the plural of sailor?: The plural of sailor is sailors.

Words near sailor in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: sailor (page history and authors); Sailor (page history and authors); sailor (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sailor (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sailor.ogg, En-uk-sailor.ogg.

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