somebody
Americanpronoun
noun
-
somebodies
plural
pronoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of somebody
Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at some, body
Compare meaning
How does somebody compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When you're talking about a person, but not a specific one, use the word somebody. If you cook more than you can eat yourself, you might ask, "Does somebody want this extra macaroni and cheese?" Interestingly, synonyms for somebody include "whoever" and "superstar." In other words, you can use this pronoun to mean any random individual, like when you suggest that somebody is likely to get hurt at a busy intersection near your house. But you can also use it for a very important, well-known, successful, or famous person: "I don't want to get stuck in this small town — I want to be somebody!"
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:
“In the absence of knowing somebody, it’s really easy to make them feel other and scary,” he tells the filmmakers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
There’s a chilling moment at the end of the film where somebody asks him, “Why have you accreted so much power?”
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
"I didn't want to go down that route without having somebody by my side to guide me through it," she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
“It seems like they’re looking for somebody to blame, but I did everything I could. We all did.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
We were just finding out neither one of us had brought nails when somebody stepped out of the sugar-bush grove.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
You can think, within two seconds, of stories of nobodies who became somebodies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
"Somebody or somebodies know where this came from and how it got there," Mr Tobin said.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2024
Taking shots at the Compton native and his reputation, Cole’s “7 Minute Drills” proves that now there’s technically two somebodies doing the dissin’.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
Any political cartoon is bound to offend somebody — or quite a few somebodies — on a regular basis.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 25, 2023
Many of us, just somebodies but nobodies in especial particular, do not have a separate head at all but go in a group into the feature "Obituary Notes."
From Walking-Stick Papers by Robert Cortes Holliday
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
