best friend
Americannoun
-
a person’s closest or most cherished friend.
Sheila has been my best friend since we were seven.
- Synonyms:
- bosom friend, bosom buddy, bff, bf, bestie
-
something that a person particularly depends on or has a special affection for.
A purple, stuffed armadillo was my best friend and companion through my whole childhood.
-
something considered or suggested to be particularly useful or valuable.
When it comes to saving for retirement, compound interest is your new best friend.
Your local piano tuner could be your best friend when buying a piano.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of best friend
First recorded before 1000
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.
A spell has erased Peter Parker from the world’s memory — the price of undoing the public exposure of his identity — leaving him a stranger to his best friend, Ned, and to MJ.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Instead of proposing Waddingham as a Bond co-star, she’s the expertly skilled agent flanked by a best friend with an equally formidable intellect – the Moneypenny to her 007.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
I’m planning to marry my best friend of more than 20 years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Kate said she and Matt were grateful to family and friends for their support, including her best friend Jade Foley, who stepped in to pay a deposit for the hastily arranged new catering.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Her boyfriend, Liam, and her best friend, Amber, are working there, too —assisting the art and music teachers.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
