guy
noun
a man or boy; fellow.
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guying.
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:
You’re a guy who loves Sepultura,’” Ian told him, invoking a musical link for the composer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
She was tempted to reach out to one until she read her friends’ reminders that the guy made her talk to his mom on FaceTime during their second date.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
"I'm lucky. I'm a big guy, and I don't feel particularly scared for my physical safety," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
One of the timeworn accusations against Holden Caulfield is hypocrisy: This guy calls everyone else phony, but he’s just as phony!
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
He made his way down the steep, slippery aisle, wondering how he was going to get the driver back up the aisle if the guy was unconscious.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
Plus, the DOT moves to spare space companies from environmental reviews, and long live British politics’ ‘Hot Podium Guy.’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“But most of my life had been full of ‘First Black Guy stories, Black man stories’ from the time I was in high school,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Herrera solely disclosed $80,000 in income in 2024 from his company, The AK Guy, along with numerous sources of compensation in excess of $5,000, including creator payouts and merchandise sales from his YouTube presence.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
Although England did not receive a yellow card against Fiji, Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were sent to the sin-bin against South Africa in their Nations Championship opener.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
It was almost six months since the last time Guy had gotten work there.
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
GO-TO GUY: In recent years, Sanders was the go-to guy.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 25, 2018
GUY 2: And look who’s with him — Billy Joel!
From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2016
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 McClintock, Francis Leopold
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
Old folkies will spot the genres being guyed.
From Time Magazine Archive
Both nations have networks of sonar buoys guyed to sea floors and connected by cable to onshore listening stations.
From Time Magazine Archive
I am still wondering whether I was not guyed by my pilot, and whether I was not shown the playground of a madhouse, at the time when all the most desperate lunatics are let loose.
From A Frenchman in America Recollections of Men and Things by O'Rell, Max
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
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
Best shot—the prefects guying Woodley about his love-affair.
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 took their guying good naturedly, however, and in mockery of Ace’s more picturesque accoutrement, gave a first class imitation of a motion picture director with the Senator’s son for his prize Bad Man.
From Unexplored! by Chaffee, Allen
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.
