Johnny
noun
a familiar term of address for a man or boy.
Johnny
American
[jon-ee]
/ ˈdʒɒn i /
Or
Johnnie
noun
-
Johnnies
plural
-
(sometimes lowercase) a familiar term of address for a man or boy.
-
(sometimes lowercase) a short, collarless gown that is fastened in back and is worn by hospital patients, persons being examined in a doctor's office, etc.
-
(lowercase) toilet; bathroom.
-
a male given name, form of John.
johnny
British
/ ˈdʒɒnɪ /
noun
-
informal (often capital) a man or boy; chap
-
a slang word for condom
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Johnny
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:
During her first appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” in 1977, the host got huge guffaws from his studio audience by inviting Parton to “Sit down and take a load off your feet.”
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
Johnny: It looks like the “Touch” era, no?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Others like Roy Francis beforehand, Johnny Freeman, and Colin Dixon, also became established names, but never quite sprinkled the same stardust as Sir Billy.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Inside a hotel conference room downtown, rapper/vocalists Johnny and Taeyong and singers Jaehyun, Haechan and Yuta are dutifully seated at a table with iced coffees, pens and notepads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Handsome Johnny Rosselli, another of the many people who tried and failed to get rid of Castro, agreed to testify before a Senate committee in 1975.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Any day is a good time for a johnny cake, cornmeal flatbread topped with smoked whitefish and beads of salmon roe.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2017
Between procedures, I sit in a flimsy johnny in the waiting room, leafing through magazines.
From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2015
In Hollywood, where the dinner is $75 per person, dishes include: grilled whole lobster with saffron rice; rib-eye with Dungeness crab and béarnaise sauce; and johnny cakes with cured Arctic char and trout roe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2014
Try me.” — johnny April 23, 2010 1:37 pm A few weeks ago, in Brooklyn Heights, I was trying to make a right turn but could not.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2010
But our block has three johnny pumps and a guy with a wrench to turn them on.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
The Johnnies were lucky to escape with this win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
Locals referred to them as Johnnies, a nickname that carries unsavoury connotations.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2025
JOHN’S: Coach Rick Pitino has built the kind of buzz around the Johnnies that hasn’t been felt since the high-flying days of Lou Carnesecca.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2025
Erdmann finished with 342 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception for the Johnnies.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 14, 2019
“He said something I couldn’t understand. Hell, Colonel, I can’t even understand them Johnnies, and I’ve been a long time in this army. ”
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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.
