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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

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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

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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

It caught some - including fellow pundit Joe Hart - by surprise.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Dr. Abshar Hasan, a postdoctoral fellow and the study's lead author, explained why recreating enamel's internal structure is so important.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

In a very short span, GameStop and its fellow meme stock AMC Entertainment grew to dominate the Russell 2000 Value Index of small cap companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

But Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow James Lindsay told AFP that "the historic drubbing that Republicans took on election day happened for reasons that go well beyond Iran."

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

Theo, with whom I have never had a conversation about matters more pressing than which of our fellow boarders hogged all the hot water.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Handler cites her experience as a Dudamel Fellow, in 2024, conducting “Swan Lake” selections for the orchestra’s youth series.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

Fellow German makers of luxury cars Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Porsche are all in the midst of their own restructuring programs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

Fellow tech entrepreneur Jesse Ouellette posted on LinkedIn about Robinson's death, saying he had helped him when he was building his company.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

Fellow delivery workers built a memorial outside the grocery store, according to the station.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

Fellow scientists who could analyze the facts and help solve the problem.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Both Micheli and Palumbi are senior fellows at the Woods Institute for the Environment, which is part of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

Rep. Nancy Pelosi will launch a multimillion-dollar politics institute at UC Berkeley when she leaves office, co-teaching a course on Congress and hosting visiting fellows from across the political spectrum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

He is an internationally recognized expert in heart-rhythm disorders, has helped develop innovative therapies for cardiac arrhythmias, and has authored over 450 scientific publications and trained hundreds of cardiology fellows.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026

“I hate it! Nothing but grinding or skylarking. And I don’t like the way fellows do either, in this country.”

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

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Related Words

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