someone
Americanpronoun
pronoun
Etymology
Origin of someone
Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at some, one
Compare meaning
How does someone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
The word someone refers a person or an individual, but not necessarily a specific one. If you're not hungry enough for dessert after lunch, you can ask the friends at your table, "Does someone want my ice cream sandwich?" It's a funny contradiction, but the noun someone can be used to mean "any unspecified person," but also "a very important person." So a child might say, "When I grow up, I want to be someone," meaning that they want to be well-known or famous, or just really good at something. Someone and somebody are synonyms, so you can use them interchangeably, although someone is slightly more formal.
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.
There are also two very different reasons someone can lack the antigen.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Sitting on a bench dedicated to her memory, Maddy Cusack's sister and cousin fondly remember her as their sunshine and someone with a real sense of fun.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
“I felt like someone with a superpower and didn’t know where to put it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
“If you are not with someone a whole lot in real life, there can be information about them you miss — energetically, observationally.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
He sets down his kick drum and runs a hand across an old-fashioned muscle car, the way someone would lovingly pet their cat.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich 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.
