noun

traffic

TRA-fihk

noun

Vehicles or pedestrians moving along a road, or the general flow of such movement.

"Traffic was backed up for miles on the motorway."

"We got stuck in traffic on the way to the airport."

The illegal trade of goods, especially drugs or people.

"Police broke up a ring involved in the traffic of stolen weapons."

The flow of data, messages, or visitors across a network or website.

"The site saw a huge spike in traffic after going viral."

verb

To trade or deal in something, especially illegally.

"He was arrested for trafficking counterfeit goods."

How to Use Traffic

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishVehicles moving on roads, or more broadly, any flow of goods, people, or data.

Common mistake

As a verb ("to traffic in drugs"), it carries a strong illegal-trade connotation — don't use it for ordinary buying and selling.

Common pairings

heavy traffic traffic jam website traffic human trafficking

Word Forms

more traffic comparative, trafficked past tense, traffics plural, traffics singular, most traffic superlative

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

_____ was backed up for miles on the motorway.

Etymology

From Middle French trafique, from Italian traffico ("trade"), from trafficare ("to carry on trade"), of uncertain further origin — possibly from Vulgar Latin or Arabic.