# rolling stone

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/rolling-stone
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A person who moves around a lot and never settles down; a vagrant.

## Examples

- He's a rolling stone who never stays in one city.
- She lived in six countries in ten years — a real rolling stone with no permanent home.
- The old man, a rolling stone who had crossed three continents and loved a dozen women, finally returned to the village of his birth to die.

## Origin

From the proverb a rolling stone gathers no moss.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.