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Synonyms

goodbye

American  
[good-bahy] / ˌgʊdˈbaɪ /
Sometimes goodby, or good-bye

interjection

  1. farewell (a conventional expression used at parting).

noun

plural

goodbyes

  1. a farewell.

goodbye British  
/ ˌɡʊdˈbaɪ /

  1. farewell: a conventional expression used at leave-taking or parting with people and at the loss or rejection of things or ideas

"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

noun

  1. a leave-taking; parting

    they prolonged their goodbyes for a few more minutes

  2. a farewell

    they said goodbyes to each other
"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 goodbye

First recorded in 1565–75; contraction of God be with ye

Explanation

Goodbye is a parting word, something you say to other people when you're leaving. You might say goodbye to all your favorite teachers on your last day of high school. A goodbye means that someone's departing: you say goodbye to your parents when you go off to college, and you also say goodbye to guests when they leave after a visit. The original goodbye, dating from the 1570s, was godbwye, which was a contraction of the farewell phrase "God be with ye!"

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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.

After the King and Queen conclude their time in New York, they return to Washington, where the Trumps will say a formal goodbye to the pair on Thursday.

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026

Anyone who’s wished that they could have one last exchange, one final goodbye or apology, will find a bone-deep significance in the way Lowery reconnects his two leads.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026

One day that October, Cook walked off the stage after his first major product launch only to be summoned to Jobs’s home to say goodbye.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

He’s hopping in a car next Sunday with his wife, saying goodbye to a North Hollywood house that’s been in his family since 1952 and driving 3,300 miles to his new home in Greenville, S.C.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2026

At the airport, there is one last area where we can wave goodbye before we part ways.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

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.