voluntourist

vo·lun·tour·ist
V4O1L1U1N1T1O1U1R1I1S1T1
UK/vɒlənˈtʊəɹɪst/US/vɑlənˈtʊəɹɪst/

noun

A tourist who takes part in voluntourism.

First used 20th C.Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounvoluntourist (plural voluntourists)

plural voluntourists

  1. A tourist who takes part in voluntourism.First known use 20th C.

    I’m not pretending all in the camp are philanthropic angels. On Sunday we saw three “voluntourists”, taking selfies.

    2016 October 7, Rosamund Urwin, Let’s praise the Jungle’s volunteers, in the i, № 1,831, page 18/5
    1 more example

    As summer looms, many Americans — college students, retirees and others who stand at the cusp of life changes — will make similar choices in search of transformational experiences. An industry exists to make these easier to make: the voluntourism business. A voluntourist is someone like Jack, who wishes to combine exotic vacation travel with volunteer work.

    2014 April 21, Rafia Zakaria, “The white tourist’s burden”, in Al Jazeera America, archived from the original on 14 Jan 2016

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

voluntourist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voluntourist

MLA

“voluntourist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voluntourist. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “voluntourist,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voluntourist.

Source: voluntourist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.