Meaning & use
aquanaut
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person trained to live and work underwater for long periods, especially in a sealed habitat.
Grammar: Countable: an aquanaut, several aquanauts. Often used with 'become' or 'train as'.
Patterns
- become an aquanaut
- train as an aquanaut
- an aquanaut living underwater
The aquanauts spent two weeks in the undersea laboratory.
She trained as an aquanaut and studied coral up close.
Aquanauts must learn to handle high pressure and limited air.
nouncountable
A skilled or experienced underwater diver, especially one who works professionally.
Grammar: Countable and slightly formal; often used in news or documentary writing.
Patterns
- a deep-sea aquanaut
- a team of aquanauts
The documentary followed a team of aquanauts exploring a deep trench.
As an aquanaut, he spent more time under water than on land.
Word forms
| plural | aquanauts |
|---|
Common combinations
- become an aquanaut
- He dreamed of becoming an aquanaut and living on the sea floor.
- team of aquanauts
- A team of aquanauts repaired the underwater station.
- aquanaut training
- Aquanaut training includes weeks of practice in a pressure chamber.
- undersea aquanaut
- The undersea aquanaut described the strange fish she had seen.
Synonyms and how they differ
- diver
- Diver is the general everyday word for anyone who goes underwater; aquanaut suggests longer stays or living underwater.
- frogman
- Frogman usually refers to a military or police diver; aquanaut is more about science and exploration.
Word family
- aquanautics noun
- The study or practice of living and working underwater.
Commonly confused: aquanaut or astronaut? aquanaut or argonaut?
aquanaut vs astronaut
An astronaut travels in space; an aquanaut works underwater. The words are built the same way but for different environments.
aquanaut vs argonaut
An argonaut is a mythical Greek sailor or a type of octopus, not an underwater worker.
Practice
Which sentence uses aquanaut correctly?
Choose one answer.
An aquanaut lives and works underwater, so the undersea habitat fits. Orbiting Earth describes an astronaut, and flying a plane or designing a bridge are unrelated jobs.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “aquanaut”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.