Synonyms

befriend

American

[bih-frend] / bɪˈfrɛnd /

verb (used with object)

to make friends or become friendly with; act as a friend to; help; aid.

to befriend the lonely and the disregarded.

Synonyms:

welcome, succor, sustain, encourage, assist, associate, ally

befriend British

/ bɪˈfrɛnd /

verb

(tr) to be a friend to; assist; favour

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

unbefriended adjective

Etymology

Origin of befriend

First recorded in 1550–60; be- + friend

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.

Cathy befriends young Heathcliff after her rich, alcoholic father brings him to live and work as a servant on their estate perched atop the windy English moors.

From Salon

As an undergraduate at Cambridge, the young Martin befriended the aristocratic Ben Fitzmaurice.

From The Wall Street Journal

He shuddered to think that he’d once wanted to catch one and befriend it.

From Literature

In a similar leap, Jimmy and Alice forgive and befriend Goldstein’s Louis, the man who crashed his car into Tia’s and killed her.

From Salon

In one email Ferguson congratulates Epstein on the arrival of a "baby boy", before following up by accusing him of only befriending her "to get to Andrew".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023