someone
Americanpronoun
pronoun
Etymology
Origin of someone
Compare meaning
How does someone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
The word someone refers a person or an individual, but not necessarily a specific one. If you're not hungry enough for dessert after lunch, you can ask the friends at your table, "Does someone want my ice cream sandwich?" It's a funny contradiction, but the noun someone can be used to mean "any unspecified person," but also "a very important person." So a child might say, "When I grow up, I want to be someone," meaning that they want to be well-known or famous, or just really good at something. Someone and somebody are synonyms, so you can use them interchangeably, although someone is slightly more formal.
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.
She was a more experienced writer who had no obvious reason to take an interest in someone who’d decided, against the advice of his high school English teacher, to do the same.
From Slate • Apr. 12, 2026
It's really important to talk to someone who can be there for you right now.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
I stayed silent in that group for days, convinced someone would realize I was an impostor.
From Slate • Apr. 12, 2026
Ask someone with imagination to draw up a workforce housing model.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026
One of them did the talking, while the others walked around the room as if they were searching for something, or someone.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
