trailblazer

English

WOTD – 3 February 2026

Etymology

From trail (noun) +‎ blazer (noun).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹeɪlbleɪzə/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹeɪlˌbleɪzəɹ/
(Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹæɪlˌblæɪzə/
Hyphenation: trail‧blaz‧er

Noun

trailblazer (plural trailblazers)

Synonym of pathfinder.
1. One who discovers or makes a new path or way through an untraversed region.
2. (figurative) One who is the first to do something in a particular field; an innovator, a pioneer.
  Synonyms: groundbreaker, outrider, pathbreaker, roadmaker, trailcutter, trailbreaker, waymaker
  
  Coordinate term: game changer
  - 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner’s punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport section)‎^[1], London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 July 2025, page S22:
    Yes, there were instances of grandstanding and obsessive behaviour, but many were concealed at the time to help protect an aggressively peddled narrative of [Oscar] Pistorius the paragon, the emblem, the trailblazer.

Related terms

Translations

one who discovers or makes a new path or way through an untraversed region — see also pathfinder

Armenian: ռահվիրա (hy) (ṙahvira)
Catalan: pioner m, pionera f
Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 開拓者 / 开拓者 (zh) (kāituòzhě)
Dutch: wegbereider (nl)
Finnish: edelläkävijä (fi), ladunaukaisija, polunraivaaja
French: pionnier (fr) m, pionnière (fr) f
German: Vorreiter (de) m, Vorreiterin (de) f, Wegbereiter (de) m, Wegbereiterin (de) f
Hungarian: úttörő (hu)
Italian: pioniere (it) m or f
Japanese: 先駆者 (ja) (せんくしゃ, senkusha)
Korean: 선구자(先驅者) (ko) (seon'guja)
Māori: kaiparahuarahi
Polish: przewodnik oświetlający szlak m, przewodniczka oświetlająca szlak f
Portuguese: desbravador (pt) m
Russian: первопрохо́дец (ru) m (pervoproxódec)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: кр̀читељ

Latin: krčitelj (sh)
Spanish: pionero (es) m, pionera (es) f
Swedish: banbrytare (sv) c
Ukrainian: першопрохі́дник m (peršoproxídnyk), першопрохо́дець m (peršoproxódecʹ), першопрохі́дниця f (peršoproxídnycja) (feminine form of both)

one who is the first to do something in a particular field — see also pioneer

Armenian: ռահվիրա (hy) (ṙahvira)
Catalan: capdavanter m, capdavantera f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 尖兵 (zh) (jiānbīng), 排頭兵 / 排头兵 (zh) (páitóubīng) (figurative), 先驅 / 先驱 (zh) (xiānqū)
Estonian: teerajaja
Finnish: edelläkävijä (fi), polunraivaaja (figurative), suunnannäyttäjä (fi), tiennäyttäjä (fi), tienraivaaja, uranuurtaja (fi)
French: pionnier (fr) m, pionnière (fr) f, premier de cordée (fr) m (figurative), visionnaire (fr) m or f
German: Pionier (de) m or f, Vorreiter (de) m
Hungarian: úttörő (hu)
Icelandic: brautryðjandi (is) m
Indonesian: perintis (id), visioner (id)
Italian: apripista (it) m or f (figurative), precursore (it) m
Japanese: 草分け (くさわけ, kusawake), 先駆者 (ja) (せんくしゃ, senkusha)
Korean: 선구자 (ko) (seon'guja)
Malay: perintis
Persian: پیشگام (fa) (pišgâm)
Polish: innowator (pl) m, innowatorka f, pionier (pl) m, pionierka (pl) f, pomysłodawca (pl) m, pomysłodawczyni (pl) f
Portuguese: desbravador (pt) m, pioneiro (pt) m, pioneira f
Romanian: deschizător (ro) m
Russian: нова́тор (ru) m (novátor), первопрохо́дец (ru) m (pervoproxódec), пионе́р (ru) m (pionér), пионе́рка (ru) f (pionérka)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: кр̀читељ

Latin: krčitelj (sh)
Spanish: colonizador (es) m, colonizadora (es) f, colono (es) m, colona f, pionero (es) m, pionera (es) f
Swedish: banbrytare (sv)
Ukrainian: першопрохі́дник m (peršoproxídnyk), першопрохо́дець m (peršoproxódecʹ), першопрохі́дниця f (peršoproxídnycja) (feminine form of both)