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• fellow
  fellow

  noun

  a man or boy.
• Fellow
  Fellow

  noun

  a member of any of various learned societies

fellow

American  

[fel-oh] / ˈfɛl oʊ /

noun

fellows plural

1. a man or boy.

   a fine old fellow; a nice little fellow.

2. Informal. beau; suitor.

   Mary had her fellow over to meet her folks.

3. Informal. person; one.

   They don't treat a fellow very well here.

4. a person of small worth or no esteem.

5. a companion; comrade; associate.

   They have been fellows since childhood.

6. a person belonging to the same rank or class; equal; peer.

   The doctor conferred with his fellows.

7. one of a pair; mate; match.

   a shoe without its fellow.

8. Education.

   1. a graduate student of a university or college to whom an allowance is granted for special study.

   2. British. an incorporated member of a college, entitled to certain privileges.

   3. a member of the corporation or board of trustees of certain universities or colleges.

9. a member of any of certain learned societies.

   a fellow of the British Academy.

10. Obsolete. a partner.

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verb (used with object)

1. to make or represent as equal with another.

2. Archaic. to produce a fellow to; match.

adjective

1. belonging to the same class or group; united by the same occupation, interests, etc.; being in the same condition.

   fellow students; fellow sufferers.

fellow ¹ British  

/ ˈfɛləʊ /

noun

1. a man or boy

2. an informal word for boyfriend

3. informal one or oneself

   a fellow has to eat

4. a person considered to be of little importance or worth

5. 1. (often plural) a companion; comrade; associate

   2. ( as modifier )

      fellow travellers

6. (at Oxford and Cambridge universities) a member of the governing body of a college, who is usually a member of the teaching staff

7. a member of the governing body or established teaching staff at any of various universities or colleges

8. a postgraduate student employed, esp for a fixed period, to undertake research and, often, to do some teaching

9. 1. a person in the same group, class, or condition

      the surgeon asked his fellows

   2. ( as modifier )

      fellow students

      a fellow sufferer

10. one of a pair; counterpart; mate

    looking for the glove's fellow

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Fellow ² British  

/ ˈfɛləʊ /

noun

1. a member of any of various learned societies

   Fellow of the British Academy

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fellow Idioms  

1. see regular guy (fellow); strange bedfellows.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fellows
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fellow

before 1050; Middle English felowe, felawe, late Old English fēolaga < Old Norse fēlagi partner in a joint undertaking, equivalent to fē money, property (cognate with Old English feoh, German Vieh ) + -lagi bedfellow, comrade; akin to lair ¹, lie ²

Explanation

Fellow is an old fashioned word for “guy.” If you’re wearing a top hat, you may address someone as “my good fellow.” It’s also a non-stuffy word to describe people in the same situation, such as you and your fellow Vocabulary.com fans. Other words for fellow include "chap" and "dude." A fellow can also be someone’s boyfriend, as in “Is he your fellow?” an interested suitor might ask. Another kind of fellow is an academic who's either reached a high position or won a prestigious scholarship. A MacArthur Fellow, for example, is a person who won a MacArthur fellowship (a well-deserved hunk of money). Fellow comes from an Old English word, feolaga, "one who shares with another."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fellow Fellow fellows

Often, he starred and wrote alongside other up-and-coming comedy names like Monty Python's John Cleese, Michael Palin and Terry Jones, and his fellow future Goodies - Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

People are leaning on AI for a task more dreaded than homework: navigating social situations with their fellow humans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

It was contained in a since-withdrawn chapter on climate science co-written by ELI “expert” Jessica A. Wentz, a senior fellow at Columbia’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

His fellow national Majatamhe, the farm worker, has decided to remain for now.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

It was enough to scare a fellow clean out of his britches.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Fellow forward Brandon Thomas-Asante, who scored 13 goals for the Sky Blues last season, also featured in two of Ghana's World Cup games as they exited the competition in the last 32.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Fellow miner Patryk Paja hopes to follow the same path soon.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Fellow Brit Peter Chapman was with his wife Shelagh at their holiday home in Mojacar, a short drive from Los Gallardos, on Thursday.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Fellow motorist Paul Brown said he used online trackers to choose where to fill up.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities “unwise and untimely.”

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

Drexl, two PhD research fellows and a postdoc studied 28 people in Germany who reported hearing an unexplained hum or buzz.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

He is an internationally recognized expert in heart-rhythm disorders, has helped develop innovative therapies for cardiac arrhythmias, and has authored over 450 scientific publications and trained hundreds of cardiology fellows.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026

The Salvadoran breakfast blended the two, a stage outside the U.S. spotlight, with Suozzi navigating the overlap awkwardly as he and his fellows sang The Fellowship’s praises, without naming it or divulging many details.

From Salon ● May 29, 2026

It will also include reading rooms and research offices for up to 100 visiting scholars or artist fellows annually.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026

The Vaughns hope to meet us in Rome next winter, and I shall be dreadfully disappointed if they don’t, for Grace and I are great friends, and the boys very nice fellows, especially Fred.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Related Words

• boy
• chap
• dude
• guy
• lad
• man