bestie
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bestie
First recorded in 1990–95; best ( def. ) + -ie ( def. )
Explanation
You know that one friend who knows you better than anyone, your very closest pal? That's your bestie. The word bestie is an informal shorthand for "best friend." It's been used for decades by people describing their closest confidants, but it began appearing in dictionaries as a slang term some time after 2010. You might use bestie interchangeably with "BFF" to describe the one person you can trust completely to keep your secrets and save a seat for you on the bus no matter what.
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:
Some fans are curious to see whether her one-time bestie actress Blake Lively, who drew Swift into her legal saga with her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, will attend.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
When Yan Junjie and Yun Yeyi left Chinese AI company SenseTime they were banking on a future where AI was more than a glorified search engine, and could eventually be your new work bestie.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
Her gay bestie is also alarmed, but this Taylor is a more sensitive soul.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
“Will & Grace” further subverted the gay bestie trope by assigning Will his own gay best friend, Sean Hayes’ Jack.
From Salon ● May 29, 2025
So Britain decided to call in a favor from their bestie: the United States.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
A movie pitch of the Adams-Jefferson relationship might go like this: Two mismatched American patriots collaborate on the Declaration of Independence, then get diplomatic jobs in Europe and become besties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
"He's desperate to go down water slides and he's lined up his little besties to have sleepovers and to go on play dates," she said.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
But if you’re motivated to hasten the process, take a trip with your besties.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2025
And my favorite: dogs and cats being besties.
From Slate ● Dec. 28, 2024
“Don’t worry about Elsie. We used to be besties, like, forever ago. But that was before she went and got boring. I mean c’mon, a weredragon who can’t even shift....Anyway, you coming?”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
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.
