golden retriever

American

noun

one of an English breed of retrievers having a thick, flat or wavy, golden coat.

golden retriever British

noun

a compact large breed of dog having a silky coat of flat or wavy hair of a gold or dark-cream colour, well-feathered on the legs and tail

"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 Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

golden retrievers

plural

Etymology

Origin of golden retriever

First recorded in 1915–20

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:

golden retriever

But in real life, he's seen more as a loveable golden retriever than a Rottweiler, despite his success.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

The event will mark 160 years since the first golden retriever puppies were born at Guisachan House in Glen Affric, near Cannich, in the Highlands.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

While I’d sooner take life advice from my golden retriever than a chatbot, my parents aligned with their contemporaries in treating Claude as a Google substitute.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

He just got a golden retriever puppy named Nala, the wife of Simba from “The Lion King.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

The Palmers had planned to get a small dog but the moment Jonathan saw the big golden retriever, who was then one year old, he knew which dog he wanted.

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023