best friend
noun
Simple meaning
An usually close and trusted friend.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
behstfrehndSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɛstfˈɹɛnd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An especially close and trusted friend.
informal
An object or concept considered very useful or helpful to someone.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see best, friend.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An especially close and trusted friend.
Used this way, best friend is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.