guest
noun
a person who spends some time at another person's home in some social activity, as a visit, dinner, or party.
guest
1 American
[gest]
/ gɛst /
noun
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guests
plural
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a person who spends some time at another person's home in some social activity, as a visit, dinner, or party.
- Synonyms:
- company
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a person who receives the hospitality of a club, a city, or the like.
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a person who patronizes a hotel, restaurant, etc., for the lodging, food, or entertainment it provides.
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an often well-known person invited to participate or perform in a regular program, series, etc., as a substitute for a regular member or as a special attraction.
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Zoology. an inquiline.
verb (used with object)
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guests,
present (3rd person singular)
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guested,
past participle, past
-
guesting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
guests,
present (3rd person singular)
-
guested,
past participle, past
-
guesting
present participle
adjective
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provided for or done by a guest.
a guest towel; a guest column for a newspaper.
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participating or performing as a guest.
a guest conductor.
Guest
2
American
[gest]
/ gɛst /
noun
guest
British
/ ɡɛst /
noun
-
a person who is entertained, taken out to eat, etc, and paid for by another
-
-
a person who receives hospitality at the home of another
a weekend guest
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( as modifier )
the guest room
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-
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a person who receives the hospitality of a government, establishment, or organization
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( as modifier )
a guest speaker
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-
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an actor, contestant, entertainer, etc, taking part as a visitor in a programme in which there are also regular participants
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( as modifier )
a guest appearance
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a patron of a hotel, boarding house, restaurant, etc
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zoology a nontechnical name for inquiline
-
informal do as you like
verb
guest
Idioms
Synonym Usage
See visitor.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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guestsimple
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guestssimple
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have guestedperfect
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has guestedperfect
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am guestingprogressive
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are guestingprogressive
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is guestingprogressive
-
have been guestingperfect progressive
-
has been guestingperfect progressive
Past
-
guestedsimple
-
had guestedperfect
-
was guestingprogressive
-
were guestingprogressive
-
had been guestingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of guest
First recorded before 900; Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr; replacing Old English gi(e)st; cognate with German Gast, Gothic gasts, Latin hostis; host 1, host 2
Explanation
If you invite a friend to your home, she is your guest. You might announce to your parents that you've invited seven guests for Thanksgiving. Someone who's visiting, or who's been asked to come, is a guest. If your next door neighbor comes over for lunch, she's a guest, and every one of the two hundred people you invite to a wedding is also a guest. You're often referred to as a guest when you stay at a hotel, too. The Old English root of guest is gæst, "a stranger" or "an accidental guest."
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 also became a presenter on Glow Up Ireland, Love Island USA's spin-off Aftersun, and occasional guest slots on ITV's This Morning, as well as fronting her own documentary titled Maura Higgins: You're Joking Me!
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
You might have absorbed her cumulative presence across decades of guest roles from “The Twilight Zone” to “The Rockford Files” to “Newhart.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Compagno’s chair on “Outnumbered” will have guest co-hosts after she departs the program.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Our guest is a hardworking, well-groomed Model Y Premium RWD that I hooked up with through Turo, the peer-to-peer car-sharing platform.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
She signed her own name on the form and confidently listed herself as a guest of Anat Shalev, and her room number.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
And they played a mother and daughter in Alan Rickman's directorial debut, The Winter Guest, in 1997.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Guest: Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan and “deputy platypus” at Platypus Economics.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Category: Guest actor in a comedy series Résumé: 69 film and TV credits since 2000, including “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “The Big Short” and “Midnight Mass”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Guest: Josh Keating, senior correspondent covering foreign affairs at Vox.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
Cooter whispered back, “Whatever it is, you’s lucky Emma Collins left, ’cause she sure would’ve told Mrs. Guest you’s in here talking.”
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Trump, soaking in the praise from his aides and the guests, crossed his arms and puffed out his chest, people familiar with the event said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
She made waves on TikTok for a luxe bachelorette sponsored by AI mirror seller Swan Beauty, which equipped her guests with a private jet to St. Barts and other over-the-top freebies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton, his guests and the BBC readers will be hoping to strike back, and land a blow for the human race.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
He said the new ballroom could provide safe and secure seating for 1,000 dinner guests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
There are a few white benches scattered around so the guests can sit and study the artwork.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Gorsuch spoke at the presidential libraries of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and guested on Firing Line, a PBS opinion show hosted by the conservative commentator Margaret Hoover.
From Slate ● Oct. 4, 2024
When I guested out for my first “Nutcracker,” at the American Dance Theater of Long Island, I danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and I was like, well, Sugar Plum is pink.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2023
"Richard Belzer was one of the most kindest and welcoming actors when I guested on two episodes of Law and Order: SVU," tweeted Marlee Matlin.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2023
London has frequently collaborated with the artist now known as Ye, who produced and guested on 2014′s “Vibes.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2023
Sansa remembered Lord Yohn Royce, who had guested at Winterfell two years before.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Weir also was a dedicated collaborator, inviting friends to perform with him or guesting on their records or in concert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2026
Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy have been similarly prolific in their guesting.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2025
They also appeared regularly on television, making specials and guesting on various shows.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
“My day was always better for having passed through the Earwolf studios, whether it’s hosting or guesting, whatever.”
From The Verge ● Mar. 22, 2022
And since his own lord had exiled him and his story went before him, none would take him in, but after the three days’ guesting all sent him from their doors as an outlaw.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
