girl Friday

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See synonyms for girl Friday on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural girl Fridays.Older Use: Sometimes Offensive.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of girl Friday

First recorded in 1935–40; modeled on man Friday

Words nearby girl Friday

girdle traverse, gird one's loins, Girgenti, girl, girl band, girl Friday, girlfriend, girlfriend experience, girl guide, girlhood, girlie

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

How to use girl Friday in a sentence

France 24's coverage of two developing hostage situations in Paris on Friday.
LIVE Coverage of the Paris Terror Attacks||January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
On Friday, the story had looked like it might blow over as Buckingham Palace sought to dismiss it as a “civil case.”
Buckingham Palace Disputes Sex Allegations Against Prince ‘Randy Andy’|Tom Sykes|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The movie we went to that Friday night in 1953 was The Big Heat.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The brother of a girl who made her debut in New Orleans society was shaking his fists in excitement.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise|Jason Berry|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

But, but … there was a token black girl in the background, Target cried in its defense!
One Vogue Cover Doesn’t Solve Fashion’s Big Race Problem|Danielle Belton|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Was he really condemned to an eternal solitude because of the girl who had died so many years ago?
Bella Donna|Robert Hichens
The two little Pontelliers were with him, and he carried Madame Ratignolle's little girl in his arms.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
"I hope you don't think I speak always to strangers, like that," said the girl in the rose hat.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson
The young man smiled at the girl, as he crushed up the notes and stuffed them into his pocket.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson
Sometimes it was a young girl, again a widow; but as often as not it was some interesting married woman.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin

British Dictionary definitions for girl Friday

girl Friday

noun

a female employee who has a wide range of duties, usually including secretarial and clerical work

Word Origin for girl Friday

C20: coined on the pattern of man Friday

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with girl Friday

girl Friday

Also, gal Friday. An efficient and faithful female assistant, as in I'll have my girl Friday get the papers together. The expression plays on man Friday, a name for a devoted male servant or assistant. The name Friday comes from Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, whose shipwrecked hero named the young native who became his faithful companion for the day of the week when he found him. In the mid-1900s Friday was applied to a male servant and then a women secretary or clerk who works for a man. The expression girl Friday gained currency through a motion picture starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday (1940). Today it tends to be considered condescending and, applied to a woman, sexist.