If someone has a peripatetic life or career, they travel around a lot, living or working in places for short periods of time.
[formal]
Her father was in the army and the family led a peripatetic existence.
...a hectic, peripatetic life full of people and parties.
Synonyms: travelling, wandering, roaming, migrant More Synonyms of peripatetic
peripatetic in British English
(ˌpɛrɪpəˈtɛtɪk) or peripatetical (ˌpɛrɪpəˈtɛtɪkəl)
adjective
1.
itinerant
2. British
employed in two or more educational establishments and travelling from one to another
a peripatetic football coach
noun
3.
a peripatetic person
Derived forms
peripatetically (ˌperipaˈtetically)
adverb
Word origin
C16: from Latin peripatēticus, from Greek peripatētikos, from peripatein to pace to and fro
Peripatetic in British English
(ˌpɛrɪpəˈtɛtɪk)
adjective
1.
of or relating to the teachings of Aristotle, who used to teach philosophy while walking about the Lyceum in ancient Athens
noun
2.
a student of Aristotelianism
peripatetic in American English
(ˌpɛrɪpəˈtɛtɪk)
adjective
1. [P-]
of the philosophy or the followers of Aristotle, who walked about in the Lyceum while he was teaching
2.
walking or moving about; not staying in one place; itinerant
noun
3. [P-]
a follower of Aristotle
4.
a person who walks from place to place
SIMILAR WORDS: iˈtinerant
Derived forms
peripatetically (ˌperipaˈtetically)
adverb
Word origin
Fr péripatétique < L peripateticus < Gr peripatētikos < peripatein, to walk about < peri-, around + patein, to walk < IE base *pent-, to step, go > find
Examples of 'peripatetic' in a sentence
peripatetic
Bed, a monster of our own invention, sure it's incredibly uncomfortable & 6-inch sides not adequate to contain peripatetic 2-yr-old.
Bénédicte Newland and Pascale Smets AND GOD CREATED THE AU PAIR (2005)
There was a peripatetic practitioner who came on Thursdays to the front room of a house near the Vicarage.
Secombe, Fred GOODBYE CURATE (2005)
After the peripatetic pace of Downtown's daily routine, a day in the sun in this orderly, cloistered wedge of privilege was hypnotic.
Siddons, Anne Rivers DOWNTOWN (2005)
(adjective)
Definition
travelling from place to place
Her father was in the army and the family led a peripatetic existence.