babe
Americannoun
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a baby or child.
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an innocent or inexperienced person.
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Southern U.S. Usually Babe (used, often before the surname, as a familiar name for a boy or man, especially the youngest of a family.)
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Slang.
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Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. a girl or woman, especially an attractive one.
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an attractive young man.
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Sometimes Babe an affectionate or familiar term of address (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).
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idioms
noun
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a baby
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informal a naive, gullible, or unsuspecting person (often in the phrase a babe in arms )
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informal a young woman or man perceived as being sexually attractive
Etymology
Origin of babe
First recorded in 1150–1200; 1915–20 babe for def. 4; Middle English; early Middle English baban, probably nursery word in origin
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.
And then when you get a shorty you may say, “Yo, babe, I look nice. I’m good.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
"Hey babe, I need you to come out here right now," she tells him as her hair whips in the fierce winds.
From BBC • Jan. 16, 2025
To any man who made a pop album in 2024: Good luck, babe.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2024
Mary Chater, who fell for a fraudster on Facebook who claimed to be a UN doctor, said: "Being called babe, baby, sweetheart, lured me right in."
From BBC • Feb. 14, 2024
The babe within me makes me long for cider and sweetmeats, roast meat, rich milk, and apricots.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
