Word.ws English Dictionary

space cadet

space cadet noun: a person in training to be a (generally military) astronaut.

Noun

space cadet (plural space cadets)

  1. A person in training to be a (generally military) astronaut.
  2. (derogatory, slang) One who deals with reality in a way consistent with being under the influence of (or "spaced out on") drugs.
    Synonyms:
    space case
  3. (derogatory, slang) One who forgets, daydreams, or otherwise is distracted from reality more often than most.

Synonyms of space cadet

Forms of space cadet

pluralspace cadets

Origin of space cadet

From the title of the 1948 science fiction novel Space Cadet, by Robert A. Heinlein.

Words formed from space cadet

Questions about space cadet

What does space cadet mean?
Space cadet means a person in training to be a (generally military) astronaut.
What part of speech is space cadet?
Space cadet is a noun.
What is the plural of space cadet?
The plural of space cadet is space cadets.

Words near space cadet in the dictionary

  1. space blanket
  2. space blankets
  3. space bridge
  4. space bridges
  5. space buns
  6. space cadet
  7. space cadets
  8. space cake
  9. space cakes
  10. space capsule
  11. space capsules

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: space cadet (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-au-space cadet.ogg.

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