buddy
noun
comrade or chum (often used as a term of address).
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buddy
1 American
[buhd-ee]
/ ˈbʌd i /
verb (used without object)
buddies,
present (3rd person singular)
buddied,
past participle, past
buddying
present participle
verb phrase
-
buddy up to to become friendly with or curry the favor of.
He was buddying up to the political bosses.
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buddy up
-
to become friendly; be on friendly or intimate terms.
-
to work closely together.
to buddy up with a student from another high school.
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Buddy
2
American
[buhd-ee]
/ ˈbʌd i /
noun
buddy
British
/ ˈbʌdɪ /
noun
-
Also called (as a term of address): bud. an informal word for friend
-
a volunteer who visits and gives help and support to a person suffering from AIDS
-
a volunteer who gives help and support to a person who has become disabled but is returning to work
verb
Usage
What does buddy mean? Buddy is most commonly used as an informal word for a friend. Buddy is often used as a form of address (as in Hey, buddy, I haven’t seen you in a while!) or a term of endearment (an affectionate way of referring to someone). It is sometimes shortened to bud. Buddy is primarily used in the United States. Example: We don’t get together as much as we used to, but whenever I hang out with my buddies from college it’s still like old times.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
buddysimple
-
buddiessimple
-
have buddiedperfect
-
has buddiedperfect
-
am buddyingprogressive
-
are buddyingprogressive
-
is buddyingprogressive
-
have been buddyingperfect progressive
-
has been buddyingperfect progressive
Past
-
buddiedsimple
-
had buddiedperfect
-
was buddyingprogressive
-
were buddyingprogressive
-
had been buddyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of buddy
1840–50, perhaps reduced form of brother
Explanation
A buddy is a good friend. Your best buddy in elementary school may still be a good buddy when you graduate from high school. If you love to hang out with a certain friend, she's your buddy. You could also call her your pal or your chum. Sometimes when kids are new in school, a teacher will ask another student to be their buddy — to help them feel comfortable and welcome. The word first appeared in the mid-19th century in the US, either as slang for brother or from the British butty, or "companion."
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:
“My buddy looks at me and I’m like, ‘Dude, the turnover in public schools is crazy,’” Puder said.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
“That’s my little buddy right there,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
He also assigned each player taking a penalty a "buddy" to greet them at the halfway line after the long walk back.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Jay Clayton has been a loyal ally and golf buddy of President Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
“Humble, put back six buttons. Ebony, put back ten. Johnny, what’s going on, buddy? You have like two hundred buttons too many!”
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
His parents didn’t agree, so he struggled with various cobbled-together instruments and learned songs by Buddy Holly and other rock pioneers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Mr. Duke outpolled the incumbent Republican, Buddy Roemer, in the state’s jungle primary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
To collaborate with them, especially Willie, because I produced a record on him with Buddy Cannon… If you’d told me, one day I’d be doing that?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Plus, long-haul flights are less affected by fuel shortages than short ones, says Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
‘This here the first reunion us is all had in many a year. Highboy, you get a chair from the kitchen. Father, here Buddy and Hamilton.’
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Chinese users of AI-powered companion bots have bid heart-rending farewells to their virtual buddies as national regulations took effect Wednesday aimed at curbing the risk of emotional dependency.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Before the plates were cleared, Greg Abbott told his buddies around the table that there was something else he wanted to order—and it wasn’t on the menu.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
I guess being buddies at swanky Hamptons parties in the ’90s only goes so far.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
"Brian was there for two weeks, he spent the first week with one group of buddies and the second with another friend from America," she said.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
And one of his buddies supplies the answer.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
While his daughter and her friend were “bopping away” to every song, Grant said, he buddied up with Swift’s boyfriend, NFL tight end Travis Kelce.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024
As for Undecided, Robinson buddied up with Dawn Potts, her off-trail name, for the first 100 miles of the trek.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 6, 2023
Almost certainly that’s why, during the German occupation of France, he buddied up, for protection, with the Nazi-connected Cocteau.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2023
A 12-year-old girl who has just recovered from leukaemia has been buddied with a West End star through Momentum Children's Charity.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2022
By then he had buddied up with Chilean Yonathan Jesús Fernández and Mexican Germán Madrozo, whose prospects were as farcically bad as his were.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 1, 2019
That could look like buddying up with people you already live with, or who you are already consciously choosing to socialize with.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2020
He has veered between buddying up to China’s President Xi Jinping and attacking Beijing over trade.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2018
Now we have NK and China buddying up,especially at a crucial time following the trade issues.
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2018
But when his scar starts to sting again, he assumes the darkness that he feels and his disturbing dreams must be connected to the former Death Eater’s son who is buddying up to his son.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 5, 2016
Vonetta, who was buddying up to one of the three sisters, could get her own toast.
From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
