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• fellow
  fellow

  noun

  a man or boy.
• Fellow
  Fellow

  noun

  a member of any of various learned societies

fellow

American  

[fel-oh] / ˈfɛl oʊ /

noun

• fellows
  plural

1. a man or boy.

   a fine old fellow; a nice little fellow.

2. Informal. beau; suitor.

   Mary had her fellow over to meet her folks.

3. Informal. person; one.

   They don't treat a fellow very well here.

4. a person of small worth or no esteem.

5. a companion; comrade; associate.

   They have been fellows since childhood.

6. a person belonging to the same rank or class; equal; peer.

   The doctor conferred with his fellows.

7. one of a pair; mate; match.

   a shoe without its fellow.

8. Education.

   1. a graduate student of a university or college to whom an allowance is granted for special study.

   2. British. an incorporated member of a college, entitled to certain privileges.

   3. a member of the corporation or board of trustees of certain universities or colleges.

9. a member of any of certain learned societies.

   a fellow of the British Academy.

10. Obsolete. a partner.

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verb (used with object)

1. to make or represent as equal with another.

2. Archaic. to produce a fellow to; match.

adjective

1. belonging to the same class or group; united by the same occupation, interests, etc.; being in the same condition.

   fellow students; fellow sufferers.

fellow ¹ British  

/ ˈfɛləʊ /

noun

1. a man or boy

2. an informal word for boyfriend

3. informal one or oneself

   a fellow has to eat

4. a person considered to be of little importance or worth

5. 1. (often plural) a companion; comrade; associate

   2. ( as modifier )

      fellow travellers

6. (at Oxford and Cambridge universities) a member of the governing body of a college, who is usually a member of the teaching staff

7. a member of the governing body or established teaching staff at any of various universities or colleges

8. a postgraduate student employed, esp for a fixed period, to undertake research and, often, to do some teaching

9. 1. a person in the same group, class, or condition

      the surgeon asked his fellows

   2. ( as modifier )

      fellow students

      a fellow sufferer

10. one of a pair; counterpart; mate

    looking for the glove's fellow

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Fellow ² British  

/ ˈfɛləʊ /

noun

1. a member of any of various learned societies

   Fellow of the British Academy

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fellow Idioms  

1. see regular guy (fellow); strange bedfellows.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fellows
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fellow

before 1050; Middle English felowe, felawe, late Old English fēolaga < Old Norse fēlagi partner in a joint undertaking, equivalent to fē money, property (cognate with Old English feoh, German Vieh ) + -lagi bedfellow, comrade; akin to lair ¹, lie ²

Explanation

Fellow is an old fashioned word for “guy.” If you’re wearing a top hat, you may address someone as “my good fellow.” It’s also a non-stuffy word to describe people in the same situation, such as you and your fellow Vocabulary.com fans. Other words for fellow include "chap" and "dude." A fellow can also be someone’s boyfriend, as in “Is he your fellow?” an interested suitor might ask. Another kind of fellow is an academic who's either reached a high position or won a prestigious scholarship. A MacArthur Fellow, for example, is a person who won a MacArthur fellowship (a well-deserved hunk of money). Fellow comes from an Old English word, feolaga, "one who shares with another."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fellow Fellow fellows

More than a few times I felt like I was the only person on the plane, despite more than 250 fellow passengers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

In 2022, the press opened North Figueroa Bookshop in Highland Park with fellow L.A. publisher Rare Bird Books — it stocks all publishers’ titles, not just their own.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Steven Cook, a senior fellow for Middle East issues at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Iran was pressuring Oman into the joint plan so it has the patina of a legitimate cross-strait project.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

What’s a key secret to having a successful healthy relationship with a fellow comedian?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Before Penelope could explain and apologize, the fellow grinned and spoke warmly to his new acquaintance.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

He began studying the Tar Pits' relatively understudied reptile and amphibian collections while working there as a Postdoctoral Fellow.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

She is a 2025-26 Robert Novak Fellow and her book "Good Boundaries," on Gen Z and risk-aversion, will be published by Ballantine in 2027.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Fellow student Abbie Lovewell says finding out about Cole's Tourette's made absolutely "no difference" to her or how she views her supervisor.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Fellow Filipino and former boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao, wrote on social media that her comeback showed the "heart of a Filipino" before calling her "our new champion".

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Venkatesh soon encountered another anomalous young Fellow, one who also failed the society stereotype.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Scott Straus, chair of the UC Berkeley Political Science department, said the political balance of the visiting fellows program is open and that “a range of political perspectives” is “definitely our goal.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Messrs. Duesterberg and Rough are senior fellows at the Hudson Institute.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

The group includes research fellows, postdoctoral scientists, and more than 10 PhD students studying dinosaurs and other vertebrates such as crocodiles and birds.

From Science Daily ● May 20, 2026

So far, the head of the institute has said the only reasons to strip fellows of their titles is if they’ve conducted scientific misconduct, things like falsifying data, Twelvetrees said.

From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2026

The night-gaunt rose again in the dry desert air, to rejoin its fellows, and Bod felt all hope vanish.

From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

Related Words

• boy
• chap
• dude
• guy
• lad
• man