Dictionary

trainspotter en · NOUN

Etymology

From train + spotter.

Meanings

1. A person whose hobby is train spotting.
   • “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:
   • 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:
   • `So are you like one of those anorak wearing trainspotter types?' 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 2:
2. (broadly) An obsessive follower of any minority interest or hobby.

Forms

Deriveds

trainspotterish · trainspottery

Relateds

anorak · trainspotting · locospotter · rivet counter · planespotter · ferroequinologist

Translations (3)

cmn 火車迷 /火车迷 (person whose hobby is train spotting) · de Trainspotter (person whose hobby is train spotting) · gd fear-amhairc thrèanaichean (person whose hobby is train spotting)