best friend
Americannoun
-
best friends
plural
-
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.
So were the parents of his late best friend, who came to cheer him on because they knew their child would have, too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
“You don’t like weak women,” Judith’s best friend, Katy, points out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The couple produced the film through their company Nevermind Pictures, which they founded with Meyer’s best friend Maggie McLean, also a producer on the project.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
She has had family over to visit and has created a list of things to do in London with best friend and team-mate Fernandez.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
“Clara, I believe you, but,” he says, smiling, “you’ve always been able to tell what I’m thinking. You’re my best friend, after all.”
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
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.
