somebody
Americanpronoun
noun
-
somebodies
plural
pronoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of somebody
Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at some, body
Compare meaning
How does somebody compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When you're talking about a person, but not a specific one, use the word somebody. If you cook more than you can eat yourself, you might ask, "Does somebody want this extra macaroni and cheese?" Interestingly, synonyms for somebody include "whoever" and "superstar." In other words, you can use this pronoun to mean any random individual, like when you suggest that somebody is likely to get hurt at a busy intersection near your house. But you can also use it for a very important, well-known, successful, or famous person: "I don't want to get stuck in this small town — I want to be somebody!"
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:
But also: “Bass is such an important part of the sound that if somebody else was doing it, they would never do it the same as me, and it would annoy me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
“If somebody has the means to go to the Hamptons in a helicopter, God bless them,” Lasek said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“Not just ‘Oh, look, we got somebody off the street.’
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
"She was somebody who was exceptional - a real trailblazer and a feminist icon," Jenner-Fust said.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
And I had a hard time imagining forgiving somebody who had done the same thing.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
You can think, within two seconds, of stories of nobodies who became somebodies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
"Somebody or somebodies know where this came from and how it got there," Mr Tobin said.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2024
Morocco, to its further credit beyond all the credit it has earned here, coped with that by playing like somebodies who found themselves belonging here.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2022
Lance, you and your teammates aren’t being booed because you’re somebodies, you’re booed because you’re cheaters who have not honestly admitted such and apologized for it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2022
This work is somewhat like a part of my own: it is a budget of Venetian nobodies who wished to be somebodies; but paradox is not the only means employed.
From A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I by David Eugene Smith
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.
