A balloonist is a person who flies a hot-air balloon.
balloonist in American English
(bəˈluːnɪst)
noun
a person who ascends in a balloon, esp. as a sport or hobby
Word origin
[1775–85; balloon + -ist]This word is first recorded in the period 1775–85. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: amateur, cabriole, impact, parachute, polyphonic-ist is a suffix of nouns, often corresponding to verbs ending in -ize or nouns ending in -ism, that denote a person who practices or is concerned with something, or holds certainprinciples, doctrines, etc. Other words that use the affix -ist include: Thomist, apologist, machinist, novelist, socialist
Examples of 'balloonist' in a sentence
balloonist
Each thread represents a balloonist, bold, intrepid and venturesome.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Repeatedly rescuing him is a balloonist-princess, though she is wary of intimacy.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In the same decade he also became a passionate balloonist, and dreamed of directed flight by heavier-than-air vehicles.
The Times Literary Supplement (2016)
As if one were a balloonist high in the air, imperilled by the wind currents, at times becalmed, perplexed.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
His chosen, single name embraced several personae: journalist, novelist, caricaturist, satirist, photographer, balloonist, political radical.
The Times Literary Supplement (2017)
Here, in 1821, a balloonist (born 1785) became the first person to ascend in a coal gas-filled balloon.