guy
noun
a man or boy; fellow.
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guy
1 American
[gahy]
/ gaɪ /
noun
-
Informal. a man or boy; fellow.
He's a nice guy.
-
Informal. none guys people, regardless of their gender.
Could one of you guys help me with this?
-
Chiefly British Slang. a grotesquely dressed person.
-
British. Often Guy a grotesque effigy of Guy Fawkes that is paraded through the streets and burned on Guy Fawkes Day.
verb (used with object)
guyed,
guying
idioms
guy
2
American
[gahy]
/ gaɪ /
noun
verb (used with object)
guyed,
guying
Guy
3
American
[gahy, gee]
/ gaɪ, gi /
noun
guy
1
British
/ ɡaɪ /
noun
-
informal a man or youth
-
a crude effigy of Guy Fawkes, usually made of old clothes stuffed with straw or rags, that is burnt on top of a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Day
-
a person in shabby or ludicrously odd clothes
-
informal (plural) persons of either sex
verb
guy
2
British
/ ɡaɪ /
noun
verb
Guy
3
British
/ ɡaɪ /
noun
GUY
4
British
abbreviation
Etymology
Origin of guy1
First recorded in 1800–10; after Guy Fawkes
Origin of guy2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English gi(e), from Old French guie “a guide,” derivative of guier to guide
Explanation
A guy is a dude, a boy, a man, or really anybody. It's an informal way to refer to a person, especially a male. But a group of people can be guys, even if they’re all female. Hey guys! Another meaning of guy comes from a guy rope, which is basically a rope that supports something like a tent to a pole. What a guy! So to guy means “to support” or “tie to” and not just physically. It’s almost like a “guide” which comes from Old French guie, and ultimately from a Germanic root. The sense attributed to a person or a fellow comes from two sources: a French proper name for a male (related to Guido in Italian) and Guy Fawkes, who famously plotted to blow up Parliament in 1605 and is still burned in effigy yearly on the British Guy Fawkes Day.
Vocabulary lists containing guy
First-Name Basis: Words That Are Also Names
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Graham's Top 50 Words, in terms of relevance
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Christie's Top 50 Most Relevant Words
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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:
A lack of leadership on the pitch has also come under scrutiny, with James Tavernier regularly the fall guy.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
This take is ungenerous but not surprising, given that one of the timeworn accusations against Holden Caulfield is hypocrisy: This guy calls everyone else phony, but he’s just as phony!
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Warsh is not the guy who drives the bus anymore. We have 12 independent voters. The chairman is one of 12,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
He can fawn over them and joke with them and look more like a regular guy — one of the boys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
“She was amazing. I don’t know how she knew what she knew. Maybe she overheard us earlier? She checked on me and introduced me to this guy named Levi. He’s a documentary filmmaker.”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Plus, the DOT moves to spare space companies from environmental reviews, and long live British politics’ ‘Hot Podium Guy.’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“But most of my life had been full of ‘First Black Guy stories, Black man stories’ from the time I was in high school,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Herrera solely disclosed $80,000 in income in 2024 from his company, The AK Guy, along with numerous sources of compensation in excess of $5,000, including creator payouts and merchandise sales from his YouTube presence.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
Although England did not receive a yellow card against Fiji, Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper were sent to the sin-bin against South Africa in their Nations Championship opener.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
“Mostly, though, they just don’t get it. One minute, you’re Kid Bar Mitzvah, and the next you’re Swastika Guy? You can’t blame them for being confused. I’m confused.”
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
“Is this THE GUY who was supposed to give us the $2 million or is this his relative?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2022
NEW GUY: Rams receiver Sammy Watkins watched from the sideline in sweats after arriving in LA earlier in the day.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 13, 2017
GUY 2: And look who’s with him — Billy Joel!
From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2016
Kobe Bryant: Has a profile but it was definitely written by a fan: The phrase "GUY CODE" is used.
From Time ● Jul. 11, 2011
GUY FAWKES' DAY. 5th.—In order to vary our monotonous routine, we determined to celebrate the day; extra grog was issued to the crew, and also for the first time a proportion of preserved plum-pudding.
From In the Arctic Seas A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and his Companions by McClintock, Francis Leopold
Certainly, political and religious leaders, the rich and powerful are mercilessly guyed, but this is surely the mot juste, because the disjunction between these effigies and the people they represent is understood by all.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2015
It's as if they think they have to imitate someone other than themselves, to summon up a pretend, all-purpose actress who can be guyed.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 15, 2013
The spindle and hub were attached to a steel barrel frozen into the ice and guyed solidly.
From Time Magazine Archive
Both nations have networks of sonar buoys guyed to sea floors and connected by cable to onshore listening stations.
From Time Magazine Archive
They were guyed unmercifully; one of them had three fights at Fort Clinton before he could convince his classmates that he really didn't want to be called "Peroxide."
From On Guard Mark Mallory's Celebration by Sinclair, Upton
Waters' hole card is Johnny Depp, the winsome tough from TV's 21 Jump Street, who radiates big- screen grace and swagger as Cry-Baby -- no easy trick, since he is guying his own image.
From Time Magazine Archive
One thinks of Rowlandson as purely English, because of his devotion to the English scene and his delight in guying the manners and affectations of the French.
From Time Magazine Archive
Best shot—the prefects guying Woodley about his love-affair.
From Time Magazine Archive
The cumulative effect of its guying would not nettle even the income tax bureau, for Funnyman Cantor pokes lightly at an array of straw men.
From Time Magazine Archive
The unterrified Kentucky rank and file took to guying their civilian star-bearer.
From A Soldier's Trial An Episode of the Canteen Crusade by King, Charles
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.
