friend
noun
Simple meaning
A person you like and enjoy spending time with, not family
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
frehndIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɹɛnd
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
A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
euphemistic
A lover; a boyfriend or girlfriend.
An associate who provides cooperation or assistance
A person with whom you are acquainted
A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted.
A person who backs a politician or a team etc.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
Used this way, friend is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It turns up most in business or professional and family or home contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Business/professional
- Family/home
- Relationships
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use friend
- “He was my best friend at the university.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
In a way that relates to A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A monarchy on a Polynesian archipelago in the South Pacific.
A takeover that is welcomed by the management of the target company.
An adviser to the court on some matter of law who is not a party to the case.
Fire that injures or kills an ally.
A girl or young woman with whom a man is romantically involved.
A person who acts on behalf of an infant or disabled person.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: person
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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.