astronaut

noun

as·​tro·​naut ˈa-strə-ˌnȯt 

-ˌnät

plural astronauts

: a person whose profession is to travel beyond the earth's atmosphere

NASA on Wednesday introduced the group of astronauts it has chosen for upcoming missions to the moon. The program, called Artemis, aims to send people back to the moon for the first time since the end of NASA's Apollo program in 1972.

—Kenneth Chang

broadly : any person who travels beyond the earth's atmosphere

William Shatner, the 90-year-old actor of "Star Trek" fame, endured a 10-minute, rocket-powered ride to the edge of space … . In that moment, at least one thing became certain: Yes, a nonagenarian can be an astronaut.

—Jackie Wattles

Word Icons

Examples of astronaut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In Houston, a Post Oak Hotel package offers to helicopter guests to the Johnson Space Center to meet a NASA astronaut who’ll take them behind the scenes, including mission control. —Kathryn Romeyn, AFAR Media, 12 May 2025

India now plans to launch astronauts to space no sooner than 2027, shifting the goal post for the country's first human spaceflight yet again. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 8 May 2025

Gateway was intended to provide rapid service to and from the surface of the moon for future visiting astronauts. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 6 May 2025

Ridley Scott One of the best late films from an all-time master, this sci-fi gem sees Matt Damon playing an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars and has to use his ingenuity to get home. —Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 5 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

astro- + -naut (in aeronaut)

Note: See note at astronautics.

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for astronaut

• aeronaut
• aforethought
• afterthought
• apricot
• argonaut
• camelot
• coffeepot
• concordat
• cosmonaut
• entrepot
• flowerpot
• huguenot

Kids Definition

astronaut

noun

as·​tro·​naut ˈas-trə-ˌnȯt 

-nät

: a traveler in a spacecraft

astronautic

ˌas-trə-ˈnȯt-ik

adjective

or astronautical

-i-kəl,

-nät-

Etymology

from astro- "star, heavens" (derived from Greek astron "star") and -naut (derived from Greek nautēs "sailor," from naus "ship") — related to nausea, nautical see Word History at nausea