surfer

surfer — noun

1. a person who stands on a long narrow board and rides along the top of ocean wave

1.nounA2
Definition

a person who stands on a long narrow board and rides along the top of ocean waves for fun or sport

Example

Christopher caught a big wave and rode it all the way to the sandy beach.

collocation: catch a wave / ride a wave

Every morning before work, Yan, an avid surfer, checks the surf report online for wave height.

adjunct of time: Every morning before work

Common collocations
  • catch a wave
  • ride a wave
  • big wave surfer
  • professional surfer
  • local surfer
Synonyms
  • surfboarder

    less common and slightly more technical; describes the board-focused activity rather than the person

  • wave rider

    poetic or informal; sometimes used in brand names or surf culture media

Grammar Patterns

a surfer + verb

countable noun: one surfer / two surfers

Usage Note

Surfer in this sense is a countable noun and is primarily used for people who practise ocean wave-riding as a hobby or sport, rather than as a professional title.

Common Mistakes

The surfer swam across the pool.
The surfer paddled out to catch a wave.
Surfers ride ocean waves; they do not typically swim in pools.

2. a person who visits many different websites or online pages for entertainment, i

2.nounB1
Definition

a person who visits many different websites or online pages for entertainment, information, or simply out of curiosity, without necessarily having a fixed goal

Example

Dahlia is a regular surfer of cooking websites and travel blogs.

pattern: a regular surfer of + [topic area]

Chidi is a casual internet surfer who opens several news tabs every morning.

collocation: casual internet surfer

Common collocations
  • internet surfer
  • web surfer
  • casual surfer
  • regular surfer
Synonyms
  • browser

    more commonly refers to software (a web browser), not a person; can describe a person but is informal and rare

  • internet user

    more neutral and general; lacks the casual, aimless tone of surfer

Grammar Patterns

[adjective] + surfer

surfer + of + [noun phrase]

Usage Note

This sense of surfer is almost always accompanied by a modifier such as internet, web, casual, or regular. It is rarely used on its own without context.

Common Mistakes

He is a surfer.' (when meaning someone who browses the web).
He is a web surfer.
Without internet or web, most readers will assume the ocean sport sense.

Word family

  • surf
    verbA2
  • surfing
    nounA2
  • surfboard
    nounA2
  • surfable
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe people who ride on water using a board, but the type of board and the technique differ. A surfer stands or lies on a short, finned surfboard and uses ocean waves for forward motion. A bodyboarder lies on a soft, shorter board and rides the foam of breaking waves closer to shore. A windsurfer stands on a larger board with a sail attached and uses wind power rather than wave power. A paddleboarder stands on a long, wide board and moves by paddling with a long oar, often on flat water such as lakes or calm bays. For example: 'Christopher is an experienced surfer who can handle waves of six metres.' 'In strong winds, a windsurfer can move faster than a surfer.' 'A bodyboarder usually stays closer to the beach than a surfer.'

surfer ↗bodyboarderwindsurferpaddleboarder

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

EnglishHawaiian / PolynesianEnglish

Surfer is formed by adding the agent suffix -er (meaning 'a person who does something') to the verb surf, which originally referred to the breaking of ocean waves on a shore. The practice of riding waves on a board became popular in Hawaii in the late 1800s, and the word surfer entered English around the early 1900s. Starting in the 1990s, the term was extended figuratively to describe people who browse the internet in a casual, wandering manner.