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
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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
There he meets with his chosen mark: Perla Hildegarda Inclán Arnao, a middle-aged spinster from a fallen family of coffee barons whose reserved nature doesn’t jibe with her passionate letters.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
This week, their relationship took a nosedive as tensions flared over the war and a personal jibe directed at Macron.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
Having defended himself from Rooney's jibe by insisting the physical demands on players are greater than ever, Maresca made eight changes at Stamford Bridge.
From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025
“Mm-hmm. And that don’t jibe with how you say you did in the ring. So you probably ain’t as bad as you think. Who holds the bag for you?”
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
"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
This time, his eventful stay included being on the receiving end of jibes from Haye, who later called him "weak" and "brittle-spirited".
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
Some opera singers hoped that the actor’s jibes might actually prove beneficial for the form in a roundabout way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
The papers had printed that the jibes and jeers were cruel and sometimes obscene, and so they were, but this was not the big show.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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
Then with a thundercrack the boom came swinging round and she jibed and jumped northward like a scared cat.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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
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
Later, she decided to begin homeschooling her son—regular school “wasn’t jibing with his personality,” she says.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2013
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.
