baggage

1 of 2

noun (1)

bag·​gage ˈba-gij 

1

: suitcases, trunks, and personal belongings of travelers : luggage

2

: transportable equipment especially of a military force

3

: intangible things (such as feelings, circumstances, or beliefs) that get in the way

emotional baggage

baggage

2 of 2

noun (2)

1

dated : a contemptible or disreputable woman

"I can buy her off. If she took money from him—the mercenary, painted baggage!—why, then, she'll take it from me."

—Edward Bulwer-Lytton

2

dated : a young woman

Examples of baggage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Each of the kings is also walking into the experience with their own sets of baggage. —Dave Quinn, People.com, 5 May 2025

People could be heard screaming and crying in the video, which appeared to show several people injured on the ground and baggage strewn about, as first responders attended to the scene. —Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 4 May 2025

Where the original astronauts carried national ambitions on their shoulders, today’s space tourists carry the complicated baggage of late-stage capitalism. —Ashley Case, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025

The Liberals, by contrast, passed over Trudeau’s deputy prime minister and elevated Mark Carney, a respected political outsider unencumbered by Trudeau’s baggage. —Daniel Block, The Atlantic, 29 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English bagage, from Middle French, from bagues belongings, baggage

Noun (2)

probably modification of Middle French bagasse, from Old Occitan bagassa

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing baggage

• bag and baggage
• baggage claim
• hand baggage

Kids Definition

baggage

noun

bag·​gage

ˈbag-ij

: the traveling bags and personal belongings of a traveler : luggage