Meanings
plural satnavs · alternative sat nav
- countableinformaluncountableA satellite navigation system; the navigation that is done via the use of such a system.
Back then there was no satnav — you needed to keep a paper atlas in the delivery van and to consult it daily.
1 more example
The characters are dead-eyed waxworks which speak with all the nuance of a satnav.
2026 September 15, Stuart Heritage, “No Big Deal review – is this how AI ends humanity … with a sitcom so bad it bores you to death?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN - CommonwealthcountableinformaluncountableA satellite navigation system receiver.
Good thing we have a satnav to help us find our way.
Synonyms: GPS receiver
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA satellite navigation system receiver.
Origin
Syllabic abbreviation of satellite navigation. Such formation from initial syllables is also alternatively classified as clipping of the compound type (producing a clipped compound), and it is sometimes categorized as blending (but blending stricto sensu involves initial and terminal parts of words that may be delimited by reanalysis).
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
satnav. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/satnav
“satnav.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/satnav. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “satnav,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/satnav.
Source: satnav on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.