anybody

[ en-ee-bod-ee, -buhd-ee ]

pronoun

1. any person.

noun

, plural an·y·bod·ies.

1. a person of some importance:

   If you're anybody, you'll receive an invitation.

anybody

/ ˈɛnɪˌbɒdɪ; -bədɪ /

pronoun

1. any person; anyone
2. usually used with a negative or a question a person of any importance

   he isn't anybody in this town

noun

1. often preceded by just any person at random; no matter who

Usage Note

See each, they ( def ).

Spelling Note

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. anyone.

Word History and Origins

Origin of anybody¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, anybody is from Middle English ani bodi. See any, body

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. anybody's guess, a matter of conjecture:

   It's anybody's guess why she quit.

Example Sentences

Also, use hand sanitizer before you knock on doors and ring bells to protect anybody who may come after you.

From Popular-Science

I don’t know anybody who really believes in dirty air or dirty water.

From Fortune

His ability to play one through five, guard anybody on the floor, take the challenge, not only guard on the perimeter, and continue to protect the paint.

From FiveThirtyEight

He’s decided to stifle his beliefs so as not to make waves with anybody in the condominium, he said, adjusting his mask to better cover his mouth and nose.

From Fortune

Bear in mind that you can share these links as many times and with as many people as you want, but the link is public and anybody who has it can access your playlist.

From Popular-Science

I remember all our music appeared on Spotify overnight, without anybody asking us.

From The Daily Beast

As anybody who has seen his now famous rant on Parks and Recreation knows, Patton Oswalt can get a little obsessed.

From The Daily Beast

“Any time you put a foreign substance into anybody you have the potential for an adverse event,” Geisbert reminds.

From The Daily Beast

“He has one of the most unabashedly pro-life records as anybody in the field,” said Mackowiak.

From The Daily Beast

I harbor a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy, just like anybody, and I welcomed the challenge.

From The Daily Beast

She would never forget it; but realizing its gravity, she decided thereupon never to tell it—the dream—to anybody.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Crow was rocking back and forth on his perch, for a joke—on anybody except himself—always delighted him.

From Project Gutenberg

It's quite true the land can't run away, but there are always rows and revolutions and smashes going on; you can't trust anybody.

From Project Gutenberg

Why, 'pon my word, I'm bound to say that I'm just as much in the dark as anybody else, if it comes to that!

From Project Gutenberg

Never did I feel leaving anybody or any place so much, and Berlin seems to me like a great roaring wilderness.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• anyone
• everybody
• everyone
• public