Sidney

American  

[sid-nee] / ˈsɪd ni /

Also Sydney

noun

1. Sir Philip, 1554–86, English poet, writer, statesman, and soldier.

2. a city in N Ohio.

3. a male or female given name: a family name taken from a French placename, Saint Denis.

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Sidney British  

/ ˈsɪdnɪ /

noun

1. Algernon. 1622–83, English Whig politician, beheaded for his supposed part in the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II and the future James II: author of Discourses Concerning Government (1689)

2. Sir Philip. 1554–86, English poet, courtier, and soldier. His works include the pastoral romance Arcadia (1590), the sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella (1591), and The Defence of Poesie (1595), one of the earliest works of literary criticism in English

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Example Sentences

Peter R. Kowey is a professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College and the William Wikoff Smith chair of cardiovascular research.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026

Pulitzer winner Stephen Adly Guirgis adapts the classic Sidney Lumet film about a Brooklyn bank heist in a production starring Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

At age 39, Jordan joins a small circle of Black actors who have won the prestigious best actor Oscar, after Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and Will Smith.

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

"I stand here because of the people who came before me - Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith," he said.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026

No recent photographs, no hospital records, no death certificate, just the accident report from the state highway police: Dr. Sidney Sikes suffered a crushed leg and Samuel W. Westing had severe facial injuries.

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin