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lejos

LEH-hoss'lexos

“lejos” means “far” in Spanish. It has 2 different meanings depending on context:

far, far away

Also: a long way off
A small red house in the foreground looking across a vast, empty green landscape to a tiny blue mountain range far away on the horizon.

📝 In Action

Mi casa está lejos de la escuela.

A1

My house is far from the school.

¿Vives muy lejos de aquí?

A1

Do you live very far from here?

El aeropuerto no está lejos.

A2

The airport isn't far.

Se puede ver la montaña a lo lejos.

B1

You can see the mountain in the distance.

Word Connections

Synonyms

Antonyms

Common Collocations

  • lejos de aquí – far from here
  • muy lejos – very far
  • a lo lejos – in the distance
  • ir lejos – to go far

far from

Also: a long way from
A tiny person stands at the base of a massive, steep hill, looking up at a small flag planted on the distant summit, indicating a long journey ahead.

📝 In Action

Estoy lejos de terminar mi trabajo.

B1

I'm far from finishing my work.

Su idea está lejos de ser práctica.

B2

His idea is far from being practical.

Lejos de enojarse, se echó a reír.

B2

Far from getting angry, he started laughing.

Word Connections

Synonyms

  • ni de cerca (not even close)

Antonyms

  • cerca de (close to)

Common Collocations

  • lejos de la realidad – far from reality
  • lejos de ser perfecto – far from being perfect

Idioms & Expressions

  • llegar lejos – To go far in life, to be very successful.

Translate to Spanish

Words that translate to "lejos" in Spanish:

far→far away→far from→

✏️ Quick Practice

Quick Quiz: lejos

Question 1 of 2

Which sentence means 'You are far from understanding the situation'?

📚 More Resources

👥 Word Family▼
lejano/a(distant, remote) — Adjective
lejanía(distance, remoteness) — Noun
alejar(to move away, to zoom out) — Verb
alejarse(to get further away, to move away from) — Verb
🎵 Rhymes▼
📚 Etymology▼

Comes from the Latin word 'laxius', which was the comparative form of 'laxe', meaning 'loosely' or 'widely'. Over time, it came to mean 'further apart' and eventually evolved into the Spanish 'lejos'.

First recorded: Around the 12th century

Cognates (Related words)

Portuguese: longeCatalan: lluny

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Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between 'lejos' and 'lejano'?

'Lejos' is an adverb, a word that tells you *where* something is or happens (e.g., 'Vivo lejos' - I live far away). 'Lejano/a' is an adjective, a word that describes a person or thing (e.g., 'Es un país lejano' - It's a distant country). Adverbs don't change, but adjectives must match the noun they describe.

Do I always need to say 'lejos de'?

No. You only add 'de' when you are specifying what something is far *from*. If you're just making a general statement that something is far away, you just use 'lejos'. For example: 'El supermercado está lejos' (The supermarket is far away) vs. 'El supermercado está lejos de mi casa' (The supermarket is far from my house).