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Synonyms

boyhood

American  
[boi-hood] / ˈbɔɪ hʊd /

noun

  • boyhoods
    plural
  1. the state or period of being a boy.

    Boyhood is a happy time of life.

  2. boys collectively.

    the boyhood of America.


boyhood British  
/ ˈbɔɪhʊd /

noun

  1. the state or time of being a boy

    his boyhood was happy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of boyhood

First recorded in 1735–45; boy + -hood


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:

“Peck & Peck” is the name of the eponymous poetry magazine Batter has idolized since boyhood, but it’s fallen on hard times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Lewis Ferguson says he was never close to leaving Bologna this summer amid reports of interest from boyhood club Rangers.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Starting in boyhood, an American designer and artist named Donald Evans created thousands of fictitious stamps from nonexistent countries, using a typewriter to punch out the perforations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

It teaches the difference between boyhood and manhood, between self-indulgence and self-restraint.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

But he had lived with a basketball, had paid his dues, and could now exult in this one small skill of boyhood.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Their locks are scruffy, scraggly; tousled for the boys, and wispy for those whose boyhoods were long ago.

From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2022

Calipari gushed about Krzyzewski’s triumphs with the national team, and the coaches bonded over their Catholic-influenced boyhoods and their affinity for legendary coaches.

From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2017

The Bradford of their boyhoods had clean sidewalks and flowers in the alley.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 26, 2017

When Guests Seaver and Kotto began going on about their California boyhoods, he peremptorily cut them dead with "I'm glad we found that out."

From Time Magazine Archive

Their education complemented their uniquely American facility with machines and technology, for they had spent their boyhoods surrounded by mechanical gadgetry: farm machines, radios, and cars.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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