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Synonyms

girlfriend

American  
[gurl-frend] / ˈgɜrlˌfrɛnd /
Or girl friend

noun

  1. a frequent or favorite female companion; sweetheart.

  2. a female friend.

girlfriend British  
/ ˈɡɜːlˌfrɛnd /

noun

  1. a female friend with whom a man or boy is romantically or sexually involved; sweetheart

  2. any female friend

"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

Etymology

Origin of girlfriend

First recorded in 1855–60; girl + friend

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Vocabulary lists containing girlfriend

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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.

Not only do his friends have no idea he exists, but his girlfriend MJ -- played by Zendaya -- has a new love interest.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

He and his girlfriend are at different stages in their lives, with possibly starkly different outlooks.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

In January, he married his longtime girlfriend at a ceremony in Mississippi and honeymooned in Mexico.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

If an old girlfriend buys you a set of cocktail glasses from a flea market, those glasses will always evoke thoughts of that person.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Often younger enslaved men tried to run away, or sometimes simply leave the plantation without permission—perhaps to visit a girlfriend at a nearby plantation.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

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.