Johnny
noun
a familiar term of address for a man or boy.
Johnny
American
[jon-ee]
/ ˈdʒɒn i /
Or
Johnnie
noun
-
Johnnies
plural
-
(sometimes lowercase) a familiar term of address for a man or boy.
-
(sometimes lowercase) a short, collarless gown that is fastened in back and is worn by hospital patients, persons being examined in a doctor's office, etc.
-
(lowercase) toilet; bathroom.
-
a male given name, form of John.
johnny
British
/ ˈdʒɒnɪ /
noun
-
informal (often capital) a man or boy; chap
-
a slang word for condom
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Johnny
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.
See Examples For:
Johnny Depp plays “Ebenezer” in a new version of Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”; the controversial, critically acclaimed “Downstate” opens on Broadway; U2 drops its first album of new music in nearly a decade; and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026
“Every school in the country was trying to pick him up,” said Johnny Ausbon, the Fairfax coach who pulled Everett out of a Shakespeare class and put him on a track.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2026
Minghelli used to treat her unique talent as a “party trick,” but now wants to record her own music with singer-songwriter Johnny Mace, another regular she met at the Fable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Born and raised in rural Lincolnshire, England, he was taken with cowboy lore and stories early on, and with related country ballads from Marty Robbins and Johnny Horton.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
I was reading a new Captain Underpants book, and it didn’t even have the fake Johnny Treeface title on it, but Mom didn’t say anything about that.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Any day is a good time for a johnny cake, cornmeal flatbread topped with smoked whitefish and beads of salmon roe.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2017
Between procedures, I sit in a flimsy johnny in the waiting room, leafing through magazines.
From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2015
In Hollywood, where the dinner is $75 per person, dishes include: grilled whole lobster with saffron rice; rib-eye with Dungeness crab and béarnaise sauce; and johnny cakes with cured Arctic char and trout roe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2014
Try me.” — johnny April 23, 2010 1:37 pm A few weeks ago, in Brooklyn Heights, I was trying to make a right turn but could not.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2010
Then the johnny pump is blasting cool water everywhere and us and other kids running through it, refreshed and laughing.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
Let the record show Pitino has recorded zero points and zero rebounds for the Johnnies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
Locals referred to them as Johnnies, a nickname that carries unsavoury connotations.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2025
JOHN’S: Coach Rick Pitino has built the kind of buzz around the Johnnies that hasn’t been felt since the high-flying days of Lou Carnesecca.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2025
While continuing the Johnnies rivalry is possible and desired by both schools, that seems a tough punt with the Tommies pursuing an invitation from the Summit League, a Division I conference with nine Midwest schools.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 21, 2019
“He said something I couldn’t understand. Hell, Colonel, I can’t even understand them Johnnies, and I’ve been a long time in this army. ”
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
