Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for boyhood. Search instead for joyhood.
Synonyms

boyhood

American  
[boi-hood] / ˈbɔɪ hʊd /

noun

  • boyhoods
    plural
  1. the state or period of being a boy.

    Boyhood is a happy time of life.

  2. boys collectively.

    the boyhood of America.


boyhood British  
/ ˈbɔɪhʊd /

noun

  1. the state or time of being a boy

    his boyhood was happy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of boyhood

First recorded in 1735–45; boy + -hood

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:

My mother’s ancestors and my father’s boyhood and Sappho’s fragments and the sea that raised me are all still there, waiting, under a sky the color of alarm.

From Salon Aug. 5, 2026

The symphony has been a been a musical and spiritual guide for him since his boyhood.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 5, 2026

Trout built a family home near his boyhood home.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 10, 2026

Paulo Goncalves, technical secretary at Pacos de Ferreira, Jota's boyhood club, told BBC Sport:

From BBC Jul. 3, 2026

But he had lived with a basketball, had paid his dues, and could now exult in this one small skill of boyhood.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Their locks are scruffy, scraggly; tousled for the boys, and wispy for those whose boyhoods were long ago.

From New York Times Aug. 24, 2022

Calipari gushed about Krzyzewski’s triumphs with the national team, and the coaches bonded over their Catholic-influenced boyhoods and their affinity for legendary coaches.

From New York Times Mar. 15, 2017

The Bradford of their boyhoods had clean sidewalks and flowers in the alley.

From Washington Post Jan. 26, 2017

Most American farm novels, he says, have been stories of remembered boyhoods.

From Time Magazine Archive

Their education complemented their uniquely American facility with machines and technology, for they had spent their boyhoods surrounded by mechanical gadgetry: farm machines, radios, and cars.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training