befriend
Americanverb (used with object)
-
befriends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
befriended,
past participle, past
-
befriending
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
befriendsimple
-
befriendssimple
-
have befriendedperfect
-
has befriendedperfect
-
am befriendingprogressive
-
are befriendingprogressive
-
is befriendingprogressive
-
have been befriendingperfect progressive
-
has been befriendingperfect progressive
Past
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befriendedsimple
-
had befriendedperfect
-
was befriendingprogressive
-
were befriendingprogressive
-
had been befriendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of befriend
Explanation
There are many ways to make someone your friend. You can offer assistance with a project, or provide comfort at a time of loss. Perhaps the easiest way to befriend someone, however, is just to smile and say "hi." The prefix "be-" is from Old English, and has several meanings. In befriend, the meaning is "cause to be," so to befriend someone is to cause him or her to be your friend. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.”
Vocabulary lists containing befriend
Harry Belafonte (1927–2023) Tribute List
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"Sordid" and "Blatant" Attacks: Ten Words in the News You Need to Know
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Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village
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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.
See Examples For:
You’re not out to fleece anyone with egregiously high commissions or merely befriend another member because you want to flog the latest financial product.
From MarketWatch ● May 29, 2026
Hatton had unsuccessfully tried to befriend the old place on nine previous visits and, after starting with a two-over par 74 on Thursday, finally managed to ingratiate himself on Friday.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
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 ● Feb. 7, 2026
Dr. Kelson is so lonely that he’s begun to befriend one of those spine-ripping alphas, whom he calls Samson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026
I decided early on that I would never venture in there or try to befriend her.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
He stars alongside Ben Kingsley, whose pompous thespian Trevor Slattery befriends Simon while secretly working with the nefarious Department of Damage Control.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Once she settles in, the girl befriends other spirits and wins them over with her acceptance and understanding — including a few shunned by everyone else, like the famous No-Face.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
She spends her nights cleaning the local aquarium, where she befriends a Pacific octopus named Marcellus.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
Despite the risks, Lucas begins carrying coded notes for Madame Garnier and befriends one of the young mothers, Claire, and her baby boy, at the maternity home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Insects are beset not only by viruses and bacteria but also by fungi, protozoa, microscopic worms, and other beings from all that unseen world of minute life that, by and large, befriends mankind.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Before that, he was a bartender newly arrived from Oklahoma that the drummer befriended.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Mr. Mindte is a record producer and a musician who befriended Busby in his later years, joining his band in Washington’s still-scuffling bluegrass scene of the ’80s and ’90s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Another memorable role came two years later when Fricker was cast as the homeless bird lady befriended by Macaulay Culkin's Kevin in Home Alone 2.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Aang befriended Zuko, an exiled Fire Nation prince who at first hunted Aang to regain his father’s approval before joining his quarry’s mission to restore peace.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
In camp she had to admit the pork was good until she befriended one of the pigs.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
While Aang’s saga follows the trajectory of Western fantasies that revolve around a Chosen One, his stubborn insistence on nonviolence and befriending perceived enemies reflects Miyazaki’s reverence for empathy, innocence and life’s natural beauty.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
When my colleague Malia Mendez went to an event recently, people told her that attending Junk Journal Club “has made befriending strangers easy,” and many of them stay in touch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
“She was someone who was very interested in befriending others for status, more so than being a friend,” one classmate recalled.
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2025
Henry bides his time, watching other subjects closely before befriending Eleven.
From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2025
At the moment, arguing with a crazy wind god seemed safer than befriending an angry son of Hades.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
