guest
noun
a person who spends some time at another person's home in some social activity, as a visit, dinner, or party.
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guest 2.
guest
1 American
[gest]
/ gɛst /
noun
-
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
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guesting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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guests,
present (3rd person singular)
-
guested,
past participle, past
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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
-
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:
It’s a potent cocktail made of Coca-Cola and clear spirits that tavern co-owner Owen Walsh drummed up in honor of the unexpected guest that made landfall a few days ago: a charred spacecraft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Kant on Sunday said he had "never accepted the Nalsar invitation" to be the chief guest at their convocation so the "question of me attending does not arise", Times of India reported.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
“Honestly, so many hysterical actors are based out of here, and it makes it so much easier with regard to guest cast in a comedy,” Schumacker admits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Our guest this week—a Ford Maverick XL compact pickup, with a 2.0-liter, gas-only engine—turns back the clock in a number of ways.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
The guest list dropped from Lady Augusta’s hand and swooped to the carpet.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
Guest: Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent, host of the KFF Health News weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?”
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
Category: Guest actress in a comedy series Résumé: 67 film and TV credits since 1999, including “Date Night,” “Looking” and “Abbott Elementary”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Guest: Sam Adams, Slate writer and senior editor covering culture.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
With Andersson and Brooke Guest together, hopes of a total in excess of 300 were high but Guest's departure for 48 began a steady stream of wickets as Andersson ultimately ran out of partners.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Across the godswood, beneath the windows of the Guest House, an underground hot spring fed three small ponds.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Distressed wood tables and cushioned couches overlook the bay with capacity for about 100 guests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
In the past, when presidents have hosted a large number of guests for state dinners, they have had to erect a tent on the White House’s south lawn to accommodate them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
The jurors had exclusive use of a separate floor of the hotel, the email said, and had eaten their meals in a conference room, away from all other guests.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Seating is first come, first served, but guests can purchase a reserved spot to guarantee a prime spot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
I said good-bye to some guests at the door and stood for a moment gazing up and down the Barteljorisstraat.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
In 2023, he appeared on “The Masked Singer” as “The Gnome” and guested for a four-episode run on “Days of Our Lives” as a man with amnesia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
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
Sansa remembered Lord Yohn Royce, who had guested at Winterfell two years before.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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
He’s seen some Billboard Hot 100 success as well, guesting with Drake on “Chicago Freestyle” and sending his own “Heartbreak Anniversary” to No. 16.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
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.
