choirboy

[ kwahyuhr-boi ]

noun
  1. a boy who sings in a choir, especially a church choir.

  2. Slang. a person who is notably honest, moral, or innocent.

Origin of choirboy

1
First recorded in 1830–40; choir + boy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use choirboy in a sentence

  • Unlike so many in politics, Wilson never pretended to be a choir boy, never pretended to be anything other than what he was.

    How to Survive a Scandal | Mark McKinnon | March 9, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • It originated in the idea of rewarding, after a religious fashion, the most deserving choir-boy or scholar of the church-school.

  • Incledon began as a choir boy in Exeter Cathedral, after which he went into the navy, where his voice developed into a fine tenor.

  • During all the years that Joseph Haydn was a choir boy in Vienna, he had very little money to spend.

    Stories of Great Musicians | Kathrine Lois Scobey
  • Her voice was not like a choir-boy's; her manner was not like the manner of an image; her eyes were not for ever cast down.

    The Woman With The Fan | Robert Hichens
  • He likes to climb higher than all the other birds, just as if he were a little choir boy perched up in the organ loft.

British Dictionary definitions for choirboy

choirboy

/ (ˈkwaɪəˌbɔɪ) /


noun
  1. one of a number of young boys who sing the treble part in a church choir

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