sightseeing

nounB1+Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,968 of 15,258neutral

Sightseeing is walking around a new city to look at its famous places. Go sightseeing, a sightseeing tour, a day of sightseeing.

The word carries a faint condescension — travellers like to say they are not doing it — though seeing the famous things is mostly why anybody goes. Sightseeing fatigue is real, and three or four sights in a day is about the limit of attention.

Definitions of sightseeing

1nounsightseeingVisiting the famous places of a city as a visitor.B1+
“We spent the morning sightseeing in Rome and saw the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain.”

sightseeing is an activity.

Where it comes from

Sight plus seeing, a compound of the early nineteenth century, when travel for pleasure became common.

From sight + seeing.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Travel & Transport

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sightseeing in the wild

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is a boat-based sightseeing and entertainment company in Manhattan, New York.
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
The company was founded in 1910 and operates worldwide through independent operators it calls "licensees" with a presence in most of the world's most popular sightseeing destinations.
Gray Line Worldwide
Gray Line does not provide sightseeing services directly, but rather provides its brand, promotional services and booking systems to licensees.
Gray Line Worldwide
City Sightseeing is a sightseeing tour bus operator.
City Sightseeing
As City Sightseeing has grown and expanded, the company now also provides boat tours, sightseeing train tours, and guided walking tours.
City Sightseeing

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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