Meaning & use
holidaymaker
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableBritish
A person who is away from home for a vacation, especially someone staying at a resort or traveling for pleasure.
Grammar: Regular plural: thousands of holidaymakers.
Patterns
- holidaymakers in somewhere
Thousands of holidaymakers crowded the beaches in August.
The airline apologized to holidaymakers whose flights were delayed.
The village is quiet except for a few holidaymakers in summer.
Word forms
| plural | holidaymakers |
|---|
Common combinations
- British holidaymakers
- British holidaymakers flock to Spain every summer.
- stranded holidaymakers
- Stranded holidaymakers waited overnight at the airport.
- cater for holidaymakers
- The resort caters for holidaymakers of all ages.
- package holidaymakers
- Package holidaymakers are collected from the airport by coach.
- summer holidaymakers
- Summer holidaymakers fill the seaside cafes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vacationer
- Vacationer is the standard American word for the same person.
- tourist
- Tourist is broader and can include people sightseeing for a day, while holidaymaker suggests a relaxing stay.
- traveler
- Traveler stresses the journey, and may include people traveling for work or adventure, not just leisure.
- sightseer
- Sightseer focuses on visiting attractions rather than staying on holiday.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: holidaymaker or vacationer?
holidaymaker vs vacationer
Vacationer means the same but is the American form; holidaymaker is mainly British.
Practice
The coastal town doubles in size each August because of the number of ____.
Choose one answer.
Holidaymakers are visitors on vacation, who would swell a town in summer. Residents and inhabitants live there all year, so they would not cause it to double.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “holidaymaker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.