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.
However, when challenge by the chair, Beggs said VC hurting someone was a "possibility".
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
“They managed to get to Pacific Palisades because they worked hard, they saved their money,” Pascoe said, “not because someone gave it to them.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
“The sort of traditional view of ‘working class’ was a White man in a hard hat, a construction worker, maybe someone who was in manufacturing,” Wilson said.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
If we eventually do need someone to take control of our finances because of cognitive decline, can we establish guidelines in advance for how our assets should be managed?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Then she called into the building for someone to take over the cash.
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.
