traipse

verb

traipsed; traipsing

intransitive verb

: to go on foot : walk
traipsed over to the restaurant
children traipsing at her heels
also : to walk or travel about without apparent plan but with or without a purpose
a week traipsing through the Ozarks
traipsing from office to office

transitive verb

: tramp, walk
traipse the countryside
traipse noun
Choose the Right Synonym for traipse

wander, roam, ramble, rove, traipse, meander mean to go about from place to place usually without a plan or definite purpose.

wander implies an absence of or an indifference to a fixed course.

fond of wandering about the square just watching the people

roam suggests wandering about freely and often far afield.

liked to roam through the woods

ramble stresses carelessness and indifference to one's course or objective.

the speaker rambled on without ever coming to the point

rove suggests vigorous and sometimes purposeful roaming.

armed brigands roved over the countryside

traipse implies a course that is erratic but may sometimes be purposeful.

traipsed all over town looking for the right dress

meander implies a winding or intricate course suggestive of aimless or listless wandering.

the river meanders for miles through rich farmland

Examples of traipse in a Sentence

I traipsed all over town looking for the right dress. I'm too old to go traipsing around Europe.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In a resulting 1973 film of the work known as Performances 2, the woman can be seen rigidly traipsing among tall grass, her breasts bared and her form nearly unrecognizable. Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 8 Sep. 2024 After several months of traipsing through dingy slush and teetering precariously across unshoveled Denver sidewalks, my thermal Blundstone Chelsea boots look wrecked. Beth Rankin, The Denver Post, 5 Nov. 2024 The first job the orchestra had in giving concerts was to raise your spirits after your having traipsed through a seemingly bureaucratic building in a neighborhood dead at night and on weekends when concerts are given. Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2024 His painstaking efforts—which involved toting camera gear and traipsing through forests in snowshoes—were rewarded with this photograph of a resting lynx with its adult offspring standing behind it, sheltering from the wind. Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for traipse 

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1647, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of traipse was in 1647

Dictionary Entries Near traipse

Cite this Entry

“Traipse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traipse. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

traipse

verb
traipsed; traipsing
: to walk or wander about

More from Merriam-Webster on traipse

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!