guest

¹

[gest]

noun

1. a person who spends some time at another person's home in some social activity, as a visit, dinner, or party.

   Synonyms: company

2. a person who receives the hospitality of a club, a city, or the like.

3. a person who patronizes a hotel, restaurant, etc., for the lodging, food, or entertainment it provides.

4. an often well-known person invited to participate or perform in a regular program, series, etc., as a substitute for a regular member or as a special attraction.

5. Zoology.,  an inquiline.

verb (used with object)

1. to entertain as a guest.

verb (used without object)

1. to be a guest; make an appearance as a guest.

   She's been guesting on all the TV talk shows.

adjective

1. provided for or done by a guest.

   a guest towel; a guest column for a newspaper.

2. participating or performing as a guest.

   a guest conductor.

Guest

²

[gest]

noun

1. Edgar A(lbert), 1881–1959, U.S. journalist and writer of verse, born in England.

guest

/ ɡɛst /

noun

1. a person who is entertained, taken out to eat, etc, and paid for by another

2. 1. a person who receives hospitality at the home of another

      a weekend guest

   2. ( as modifier )

      the guest room

3. 1. a person who receives the hospitality of a government, establishment, or organization

   2. ( as modifier )

      a guest speaker

4. 1. an actor, contestant, entertainer, etc, taking part as a visitor in a programme in which there are also regular participants

   2. ( as modifier )

      a guest appearance

5. a patron of a hotel, boarding house, restaurant, etc

6. zoology a nontechnical name for inquiline

7. informal,  do as you like

verb

1. (intr) (in theatre and broadcasting) to be a guest

   to guest on a show

Other Word Forms

• guestless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of guest¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr; replacing Old English gi(e)st; cognate with German Gast, Gothic gasts, Latin hostis; host ¹, host ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of guest¹

Old English giest guest, stranger, enemy; related to Old Norse gestr, Gothic gasts, Old High German gast, Old Slavonic gostǐ, Latin hostis enemy

Idioms and Phrases

see be my guest.

Synonym Study

See visitor.

Example Sentences

Desmond wrote that the guest “had a heart attack on Haunted Mansion Holiday.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

On the season opener of “Saturday Night Live,” for instance, guest host Bad Bunny used his monologue to mock Noem’s threat that ICE will be all over the Super Bowl.

Read more on Salon

Swift pointed out that nobody wants a guest to commandeer a wedding speech to flaunt their own relationship news.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The record features a carefully curated list of guest artists, providing backing vocals, or cameos, and this is when you remember that this is a concept piece.

Read more on Salon

Their goal in their personal work is to combine theme park-like art direction with scrappy, budget-friendly immersive theater, a term that typically denotes some level of active participation on the part of the guest.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• caller 
• client 
• companion 
• customer 
• inmate 
• patron 
• recipient 
• tenant 
• vacationer 
• visitor