girlfriend
Americannoun
-
a female friend with whom a man or boy is romantically or sexually involved; sweetheart
-
any female friend
Etymology
Origin of girlfriend
Compare meaning
How does girlfriend compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Vocabulary lists containing girlfriend
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The flowers, the dog, my girlfriend singing to the ocean,” Faena said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
But, she says, back in the 1990s, “if you weren’t the hot girlfriend or the young wife, which I just wasn’t, there really was only police officer.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
It sounds, from what you say in your letter, like your husband wants a girlfriend, not a wife.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
Mills-Smith fled Wales to his father's home in Suffolk, but he needed the help of his mother and girlfriend to pay for a coach ticket to London.
From BBC • May 28, 2026
That night, he called his girlfriend in California.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.