friendship
Americannoun
-
friendships
plural
-
the state of being a friend; association as friends.
to value a person's friendship.
-
a friendly relation or intimacy.
- Synonyms:
- rapport, understanding, accord, harmony
-
friendly feeling or disposition.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of friendship
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English frēondscipe, equivalent to friend + -ship
Explanation
Friendship is the state of being friends with someone. A good job, good health, and romantic love are important, but without real friendship, your life might not feel full. When we talk about friendship, we're often talking about the value of having friends, not just the fact of it. A book might explore the importance of friendship in a young girl's life. You might decide to stop working such long hours and spend more time developing your friendships, in an effort to lead a happier life. A deep friendship can last through many shifts and changes in life, as long as you write or call every now and then.
Vocabulary lists containing friendship
Beowulf vocabulary
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"Encounter"
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Relationships
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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:
“Saturday Night Live” kicked off its 52nd season with a familiar Donald Trump impression, an increasingly familiar presidential friendship and a brand-new character: White House aide Natalie Harp.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
"The giant panda have been an envoy of friendship between the Chinese and the Americans," Xi said.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Xi also said that two Chinese pandas would soon be sent to the Atlanta zoo, continuing Beijing’s historic practice of gifting pandas to foreign countries as a symbol of friendship and diplomatic tool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Longtime basketball analyst and Duke graduate Seth Davis also commented on Spatola’s friendship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
I think hard, only to start blanking on any and all moments of genuine friendship between me and Autumn.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
And there are two kinds of toxic friendships: one that is transactional and one that is based in trauma.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
There are two types of friendship: healthy friendships and unhealthy friendships, but no friendship is perfect, and it can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between the two.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
“Genuine friendships will survive any kind of rift,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
"Parents quite like it because it's healthy; it creates friendships and trading and gaming, and incorporates all these wonderful things that aren't detrimental to a child or young person's mind."
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
She understood how it felt to be an outsider, and she valued friendships highly in this new place.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
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.
