guy
noun
a man or boy; fellow.
guy
1 American
[gahy]
/ gaɪ /
noun
-
Informal. a man or boy; fellow.
He's a nice guy.
-
Informal. none guys people, regardless of their gender.
Could one of you guys help me with this?
-
Chiefly British Slang. a grotesquely dressed person.
-
British. Often Guy a grotesque effigy of Guy Fawkes that is paraded through the streets and burned on Guy Fawkes Day.
verb (used with object)
guyed,
guying
idioms
guy
2
American
[gahy]
/ gaɪ /
noun
verb (used with object)
guyed,
guying
Guy
3
American
[gahy, gee]
/ gaɪ, gi /
noun
guy
1
British
/ ɡaɪ /
noun
-
informal a man or youth
-
a crude effigy of Guy Fawkes, usually made of old clothes stuffed with straw or rags, that is burnt on top of a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Day
-
a person in shabby or ludicrously odd clothes
-
informal (plural) persons of either sex
verb
guy
2
British
/ ɡaɪ /
noun
verb
Guy
3
British
/ ɡaɪ /
noun
GUY
4
British
abbreviation
Etymology
Origin of guy1
First recorded in 1800–10; after Guy Fawkes
Origin of guy2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English gi(e), from Old French guie “a guide,” derivative of guier to guide
Explanation
A guy is a dude, a boy, a man, or really anybody. It's an informal way to refer to a person, especially a male. But a group of people can be guys, even if they’re all female. Hey guys! Another meaning of guy comes from a guy rope, which is basically a rope that supports something like a tent to a pole. What a guy! So to guy means “to support” or “tie to” and not just physically. It’s almost like a “guide” which comes from Old French guie, and ultimately from a Germanic root. The sense attributed to a person or a fellow comes from two sources: a French proper name for a male (related to Guido in Italian) and Guy Fawkes, who famously plotted to blow up Parliament in 1605 and is still burned in effigy yearly on the British Guy Fawkes Day.
Vocabulary lists containing guy
First-Name Basis: Words That Are Also Names
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Graham's Top 50 Words, in terms of relevance
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Christie's Top 50 Most Relevant Words
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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.
See Examples For:
“Yeah, it’s shocking to me. I’m happy about it,” he said with a laugh in the call, then was briefly interrupted by a passing admirer—a guy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
To the sports fan, Walter was virtually anonymous: a super rich guy who had made his money running investment and insurance companies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
He used AI to connect his Google Calendar and heart rate data to zero in on a growth product manager at his company—“Claude said this guy is the prime suspect.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
"He is a guy that can find space easily. I just try and find him so that he can move forward."
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
“This Reardon guy probably doesn’t have anything to do with you. That Post-it must have been on some other paper in there. Maybe . . . Is your dad a spy or something?”
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Handed an elite deal for the first time are prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour, lock Alex Coles, flanker Guy Pepper, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet and centre Seb Atkinson.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Christian Tokoto, an estate agent with Guy Hoquet Paris 5 Maubert, is trying to sell "a magnificent apartment with large windows" in Paris's well-heeled fifth district.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
The podcaster and news-show panelist Guy Benson seems to change his brownish beard—on, then off, then on again—more often than his suits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The complex also rents space to a cafe and a separate shop, the Swim Guy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Guy blotted his face with a dust rag as he prepared to hear the news.
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
“Is this THE GUY who was supposed to give us the $2 million or is this his relative?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2022
NEW GUY: Rams receiver Sammy Watkins watched from the sideline in sweats after arriving in LA earlier in the day.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 13, 2017
GUY HUNT|Alabama Left office in 1993 after he was found guilty of converting $200,000 to personal use from a nonprofit fund set up for his inauguration.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2017
Kobe Bryant: Has a profile but it was definitely written by a fan: The phrase "GUY CODE" is used.
From Time ● Jul. 11, 2011
GUY FAWKES' DAY. 5th.—In order to vary our monotonous routine, we determined to celebrate the day; extra grog was issued to the crew, and also for the first time a proportion of preserved plum-pudding.
From In the Arctic Seas A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and his Companions by Francis Leopold McClintock
Certainly, political and religious leaders, the rich and powerful are mercilessly guyed, but this is surely the mot juste, because the disjunction between these effigies and the people they represent is understood by all.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2015
It's as if they think they have to imitate someone other than themselves, to summon up a pretend, all-purpose actress who can be guyed.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 15, 2013
Both nations have networks of sonar buoys guyed to sea floors and connected by cable to onshore listening stations.
From Time Magazine Archive
The spindle and hub were attached to a steel barrel frozen into the ice and guyed solidly.
From Time Magazine Archive
The cadets, who were out for fun by this time and angry besides, guyed the unpopular "tac" with a vengeance.
From On Guard Mark Mallory's Celebration by Upton Sinclair
Best shot—the prefects guying Woodley about his love-affair.
From Time Magazine Archive
The cumulative effect of its guying would not nettle even the income tax bureau, for Funnyman Cantor pokes lightly at an array of straw men.
From Time Magazine Archive
Waters' hole card is Johnny Depp, the winsome tough from TV's 21 Jump Street, who radiates big- screen grace and swagger as Cry-Baby -- no easy trick, since he is guying his own image.
From Time Magazine Archive
One thinks of Rowlandson as purely English, because of his devotion to the English scene and his delight in guying the manners and affectations of the French.
From Time Magazine Archive
He shot a suspicious glance to see if the Provost was guying him.
From The House with the Green Shutters by George Douglas Brown
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.
