boyfriend
Americanadjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of boyfriend
Explanation
A boyfriend is a male romantic partner. Your cousin might ask if she can bring her boyfriend to the family Thanksgiving dinner this year. Usually, your boyfriend is a boy or man you're romantically involved with. Your aunt might join a dating site after breaking up with her boyfriend, and your ten year old neighbor might announce she has a boyfriend after a boy leaves a candy bar on her desk. The words boyfriend and girlfriend first appeared in the early 1900s, around the start of modern dating in the US.
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.
Chase died following complications from meningitis and a blood infection that led to sepsis, her boyfriend told TMZ, which first reported the news.
From Salon • Jun. 19, 2026
TMZ first broke the news of Chase’s death on Wednesday, citing the actor’s boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, who said the actor also dealt with septic issues before her death.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026
And “My Way,” about a backstabbing girl who crossed a line with Ms. Rodrigo’s boyfriend, is pop-punk with a new-wave sheen, a combination of sounds that brings to mind Paramore.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026
Lucy and her boyfriend Sam Littler, who had been visiting her father and his family, were due to fly home later on the day of her death.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
I hear the cutie in the sundress call her boyfriend “Trey.”
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.
