befriend
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
befriendsimple
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befriendssimple
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have befriendedperfect
-
has befriendedperfect
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am befriendingprogressive
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are befriendingprogressive
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is befriendingprogressive
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have been befriendingperfect progressive
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has been befriendingperfect progressive
Past
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befriendedsimple
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had befriendedperfect
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was befriendingprogressive
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were befriendingprogressive
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had been befriendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of befriend
Explanation
There are many ways to make someone your friend. You can offer assistance with a project, or provide comfort at a time of loss. Perhaps the easiest way to befriend someone, however, is just to smile and say "hi." The prefix "be-" is from Old English, and has several meanings. In befriend, the meaning is "cause to be," so to befriend someone is to cause him or her to be your friend. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.”
Vocabulary lists containing befriend
Harry Belafonte (1927–2023) Tribute List
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"Sordid" and "Blatant" Attacks: Ten Words in the News You Need to Know
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Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village
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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:
You’re not out to fleece anyone with egregiously high commissions or merely befriend another member because you want to flog the latest financial product.
From MarketWatch ● May 29, 2026
“They befriend you and say all the right things to get to you,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
In a similar leap, Jimmy and Alice forgive and befriend Goldstein’s Louis, the man who crashed his car into Tia’s and killed her.
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2026
In target dorms on campus, we hung posters that presented accurate data about the percent of undergraduates who wanted to help and befriend others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
Though griffins are fierce, a handful of skilled wizards have been known to befriend one.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
Once she settles in, the girl befriends other spirits and wins them over with her acceptance and understanding — including a few shunned by everyone else, like the famous No-Face.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
Ortiz, 42, plays Rocky, an arachnoid alien made of stone-like material, who befriends Grace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
Cathy befriends young Heathcliff after her rich, alcoholic father brings him to live and work as a servant on their estate perched atop the windy English moors.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2026
Lise has run-ins with other passengers aboard her flight and, once at her destination, befriends a bumbling, dotty widow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
As he has no children to play with, he befriends the wild rabbits, offering them food and stroking their fur until he can touch their twitching noses.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Aang befriended Zuko, an exiled Fire Nation prince who at first hunted Aang to regain his father’s approval before joining his quarry’s mission to restore peace.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
A friend of mine befriended a homeless man and took him in.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
His family moved from the Southeast part of Washington DC when Armstrong was young and later settled in a largely white neighbourhood in Maryland, where he befriended a soccer coach's son.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
They befriended the Beatles before the foursome got huge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026
Why, in the past twenty-four hours alone, she had traversed a forest on foot in uncomfortable boots, spent the night in a cave, and befriended a terrifying wolf.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Following Kim Il Sung's death, Kim Jong Il rose to become North Korea's supreme leader, and Ko became the country's de-facto first lady, accompanying her husband on military inspections and befriending his entourage.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
When one man, Samuel Bateman, transforms himself from a schlubby loser to a new cult leader, Marie realizes he’s a predator and goes undercover, befriending him to bring him down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
Khalil has spoken at length about befriending Jewish students at Columbia, attending Shabbat dinners and seeing Jewish students as “integral” during the protest movement on campus.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2026
“She was someone who was very interested in befriending others for status, more so than being a friend,” one classmate recalled.
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2025
The governor sits down on the edge of his desk and gives me a befriending smile.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
