anybody
Americanpronoun
noun
plural
anybodiesidioms
pronoun
-
any person; anyone
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(usually used with a negative or a question) a person of any importance
he isn't anybody in this town
noun
Spelling
The pronoun anybody is always written as one word: Is anybody home? There isn't anybody in the office. The two-word noun phrase any body means “any group” ( Any body of students will include a few dissidents ) or “any physical body” ( The search continued for a week despite the failure to find any body ). If the word a can be substituted for any without seriously affecting the meaning, the two-word noun phrase is called for: a body of students; failure to find a body. If the substitution cannot be made, the spelling is anybody. Anybody is less formal than anyone. See also anyone.
Usage
See each, they ( def. ).
Etymology
Origin of anybody
First recorded in 1250–1300, anybody is from Middle English ani bodi. See any, body
Compare meaning
How does anybody compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
"I'm asking him to give up the friendships he knew and change his life, that's a big ask for anybody, isn't it?"
From BBC
“I don’t think they ought to believe me, or they ought to believe Brinkley, or they ought to believe anybody who’s on the air, or they ought to get all their news from one television station,” Cronkite said.
From Los Angeles Times
“When you used to be somebody and you aren’t anybody anymore, you live in what my doctor calls a state of shame. You don’t want to go out of the house. You hate just going to the store and having to stand in line, because inevitably someone will stare at you and say, ‘Hey, didn’t you used to be someone in the movies?’”
From Los Angeles Times
"Barcelona will never change for anybody. I don't believe United should change for anybody. The club has to find a manager who has got experience and who's willing to play fast entertaining, attacking and aggressive football."
From BBC
"I'm happy for the players, I'm happy for the fans, I'm happy for the club, I'm happy for the board. We chase anybody," said Nancy.
From BBC
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.
