Meanings
plural trainspotters
- A person whose hobby is train spotting.
`So are you like one of those anorak wearing trainspotter types?'
2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 22 more examples
Above all, I remember the noise and smell of the steam locomotives, and it was those journeys that turned me into a trainspotter, which meant that soon a pencil, notebook and the Ian Allan locospotter's guide became essential items for the trip.
2021 July 28, Christian Wolmar, “Forgotten by the railways, but ripe for the exploring”, in RAIL, number 936, page 34“Unless you want to end up in the depot!” Then he looks at me more closely, suspecting a trainspotter in his midst. “Maybe, you do want to end up in the depot.”
2025 May 31, Oliver Smith, “A night on the Riviera”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 火車迷 /火车迷
- 火車迷 /火车迷 (huǒchēmí)person whose hobby is train spotting
German Trainspotter
- Trainspotterperson whose hobby is train spotting
Scottish Gaelic fear-amhairc thrèanaichean
- fear-amhairc thrèanaicheanperson whose hobby is train spotting
Cite this entry
trainspotter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trainspotter
“trainspotter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trainspotter. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trainspotter,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trainspotter.
Source: trainspotter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.