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

Also featured will be Jack, the five-year-old aspiring astronaut who was interviewed by CBS News during coverage of the Artemis launch, as well as Ron Howard and Bill Nye, The Science Guy. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2026

That will set the stage for a moon landing by two new astronauts as early as 2028. —Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026

The latter is intended to form the constellation Orion, a nod to the Orion spacecraft on which the Artemis II astronauts tested on their 10-day flight to the Moon and back. —Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2026

The longterm goal is to establish a moon base and eventually send the first astronauts to Mars in the 2030s. —Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026

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