Afield

//əˈfiːld// adv

adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Away (from the home or starting point, physical or conceptual). (Often preceded by far, farther, or further.)

    "This latest excursion took us farther afield than ever."

  2. 2
    On the field.

    "We now have both teams afield and can begin the match."

  3. 3
    Out in the open.

    "The merchant was much interested in my journey, and thought it dangerous to sleep afield."

Adverb
  1. 1
    off the subject; beyond the point at issue wordnet
  2. 2
    in or into a field (especially a field of battle) wordnet
  3. 3
    far away from home or one's usual surroundings wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abroadabroadamissastrayawayawry

Example

More examples

"Naturally, Europe and its many loops were well-defined, but farther afield things got sketchier."

Etymology

From Middle English afeld, a-felde, o felde, on felde, from Old English on felde (“afield”, literally “in (the) field”), equivalent to a- (“on”) + field.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.