boyfriend
Americanadjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of boyfriend
Explanation
A boyfriend is a male romantic partner. Your cousin might ask if she can bring her boyfriend to the family Thanksgiving dinner this year. Usually, your boyfriend is a boy or man you're romantically involved with. Your aunt might join a dating site after breaking up with her boyfriend, and your ten year old neighbor might announce she has a boyfriend after a boy leaves a candy bar on her desk. The words boyfriend and girlfriend first appeared in the early 1900s, around the start of modern dating in the US.
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:
Adriana’s boyfriend, who is the father of the unborn baby, was also with the group.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
When we found blood in our cat Gumdrop’s stool earlier this year, my boyfriend, Ean, and I rushed him to the vet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Epstein helped her escape her boyfriend and put her on a flight home to Russia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
During her cross-examination, Letby was forced to deny that Deakin was her boyfriend, though she did accept that they had gone on a trip to London together.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
“Jenna has a boyfriend, and Audrey might have one, too. Audrey’s not talking to me or Jenna. Macy’s starring in a school play. You’re never home anymore.”
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
The phenomenon of artificial intelligence boyfriends and girlfriends is growing worldwide, along with the prevalence of human-like avatars that sell products or stand in for loved ones who have died.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
The wedding, this theory goes, was payback for 20 years’ worth of media that characterized her as desperate and lovelorn and having only herself to blame for boyfriends who wilted under the media’s gaze.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Wives read everything, girlfriends read everything, boyfriends read everything.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026
The New York Times reported that the spouses sparked a romantic connection in May 2021 while on vacation with friends in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and officially became boyfriends later that year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026
“But you’re moving through boyfriends a bit fast, aren’t you?”
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
