jibe
1 Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with or without object)
verb (used without object)
-
to shift from one side to the other when running before the wind, as a fore-and-aft sail or its boom.
-
to alter course so that a fore-and-aft sail shifts in this manner.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
verb
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of jibe1
An Americanism dating back to 1805–15; origin uncertain
Origin of jibe3
First recorded in 1685–95; variant of gybe, from Dutch gijben, more commonly gijpen
Explanation
To jibe with someone is to agree with them. Jibe can also mean “be compatible with or similar to.” If two people jibe, they get along quite well. A jibe can also be an insulting remark as another way to spell gibe. If someone directs that kind of jibe at you, the best response is a really good comeback. And in nautical terminology, jibe refers to a particular manner of changing the course of a ship. How did this word come to have such different meanings? Your guess is as good as ours. Just try to remember that if you want to jibe with others, don’t insult them.
Vocabulary lists containing jibe
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Color of Water
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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:
It also wouldn’t jibe with my understanding, at least, of a democratic replacement process.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
A riled-up Daniel Dubois responded to world champion Fabio Wardley's "bin-man" jibe by vowing to make him pay for showing "disrespect".
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
Yet Edward’s recollection is vague and doesn’t jibe with the observations of his doctor and the local constable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Stepped-up bill issuance by the Treasury would jibe with the Fed’s announced end of quantitative tightening, which was anticipated.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025
Somehow their brains didn’t jibe well, and there would be long awkward pauses after Francis had thrashed through the merits of a given hypothesis.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
"But the strategy makes sense and it jibes with the continual consolidation that's occurring in streaming."
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
This jibes with the challenge hypothesis, which says, in multiple species, testosterone levels rise when males battle for attention from potential mates and go down when it’s time to take care of the young.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The report questioned how that jibes with the reasons offered by Dozler and his agency: “a work-related phone call, email, or license check by the Department.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
At best, participants in these spectacles fielded snarky jibes about outdated fashion and unsightly grooming; at worst, they were vulnerable to manipulation and torment from the experts tasked with overseeing their transformations.
From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2026
She was used to his gentle jibes about her social-service faith and she would have responded to say that she was not even sure she believed in a Christian God that could not be seen.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We really jibed, me and Kacie, and me and Anna.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025
Popov also jibed that Carlson had managed to experience Moscow's modern public transport system during his visit.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2024
Everything he observed jibed with what he knew of Bruegel the Younger, who had painted several works depicting the same scene of a Spanish official collecting taxes from Flemish peasants.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2023
But "proper" is a fuzzier concept when you are tightening underlying monetary policy - unlike the 2012-14 period when easier and easier policy jibed with the underlying deflation picture.
From Reuters ● Jun. 10, 2022
“Ask her where it came from,” jibed Goodwife Cruff, unable to keep silent.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
On record, “Anything For Love” gets a knowing wink with in-studio jibing between Lipa and her producers; here she played it straight as a lofty piano ballad for the back seats on a floating riser.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2025
It came too close to the top mark after the first leg and at the bottom mark, the New Zealand boat Te Rehutai reared up on its foils, then crashed back after a jibing error.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 18, 2020
You’ll see the Hudson from every possible angle as you react to shifts in the air — tacking and jibing, and changing the sail’s orientation to catch the wind.
From New York Times ● Aug. 21, 2019
It was a very strange and uncomfortable case of what was actually on screen not jibing with what we were “supposed” to see.
From Slate ● Dec. 23, 2014
Clouds and rain came up on the wind, which veered and gusted so wildly that there was considerable danger of the ship jibing.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" 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.
