goodbye
Americaninterjection
noun
-
goodbyes
plural
noun
-
a leave-taking; parting
they prolonged their goodbyes for a few more minutes
-
a farewell
they said goodbyes to each other
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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!"
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:
She isn't ready to say goodbye yet, or to give up her fight.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
"I said goodbye to you and did not know what lay ahead," he said referring to their final meeting.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
“The buck stopped here,” Solimene wrote in a goodbye email to colleagues.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
We have a long goodbye routine, which involves about 25 different secret handshakes and poses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Before we were loaded up and driven away in an army truck, they gave us a few moments to say goodbye to him.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
Keep an eye on the time; make your goodbyes quick to avoid over-staying the limit.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Barely four weeks after waving his goodbyes, O'Neill was back and Hearts were six points clear, with both sides 20 matches into the campaign.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Traditionally, Irish culture values goodbyes that are warm, friendly and sincere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
A memorial card before the goodbyes honored Sandy Wernick, Adam Sandler’s longtime manager, who died this week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2026
We mumbled goodbyes that went unreturned and slipped quietly into the shadows.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
