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.
As Swift and Carpenter say, “You don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe, and you’re never gonna wanna.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2025
The lorry driver's final conversation with her ended with her saying: "OK babe, drive safe, I love you."
From BBC • Jul. 9, 2025
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
One person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “like what’s the plan babe what are we doing.”
From Seattle Times • Nov. 7, 2023
Aegon just a babe, Rhaenys with her kitten.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
