matey
1 Americannoun
adjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of matey1
First recorded in 1825–35; mate 1 + -y 2
Origin of matey2
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 doesn't match his public persona of the matey, personable, empathetic royal.
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2023
“Occasionally she can be matey with you, but don’t try to reciprocate or you get The Look,” he wrote in his memoir, “A Journey.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2022
He can be matey or imperious as the fancy takes him.
From Golf Digest ● May 5, 2020
He relished being matey with the ultras and was seemingly blase about their darker dealings.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 1, 2016
Paul turned to the photographer and made a remark in a matey undertone, as though they were sharing a pint in a pub.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
These onstage mateys may not be the Rockettes, but who needs a toe-tapping tin soldier number when you can have a pirate duel with candy canes?
From New York Times ● Dec. 25, 2014
Their parrots, their peg legs, their eye patches; their planks for walking, their X'ed spot-markings; their swashbuckling ways and way of talking; their "Shiver me timbers!" and "Avast there, mateys!"
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2014
“Arr roight, mateys, best dumpen this lot whurr it comed from.”
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
I asked of a bystander who these people were, and he told me that they were dockyard mateys.
From Peter Simple; and, The Three Cutters, Vol. 1-2 by Marryat, Frederick
"Well, mateys, did you think you'd walk out to the yacht?" he asked.
From The Hilltop Boys on Lost Island by Burleigh, Cyril
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.
