bro

noun

ˈbrō 

plural bros

1

informal : brother

… Tommy has a worldview that's larger than his baby bro's.

—Leah Rozen

2

US slang

a

: a male friend

hanging out with his bros

One quirky edge the Olympics haven't yet sanded away is the habit of extreme athletes to stick together. Like, no matter where we're from, we're all bros. That kind of thing.

—Devin Gordon et al.

b

—used as a friendly way of addressing a man or boy

Hey, bro, what's up?

Catch you later, bro.

c

: a young male who is part of a group of similar male friends stereotypically characterized as hearty, athletic, self-confident, party-loving, etc.

The recent season of "Project Greenlight," on HBO, made explicit how resistant to race talk Hollywood can be, a stifling culture of bros bonding with mirror versions of themselves.

—Emily Nussbaum

These were nerds who could pass for bros on a dorm-room sofa …

—Ben McGrath

—often used before another noun

It's the continuation of the bro culture. In my experience, in this world right now, white guys have an advantage. In their training, they've been given access and tools that I haven't. White men get behind each other and empower themselves.

—Tanya Holland

Examples of bro in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As a result, the city has sometimes been typecast as a boring financial bro with catatonic cuisine to match—a place with too many steakhouses and little else to hang its culinary hat on. —Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 13 Apr. 2026

Delusional tech bros are the primary targets in the new tech bubble satire. —Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Apr. 2026

Putting these tech bros on the ballot should be a no-brainer. —Matt K. Lewis, Twin Cities, 12 Apr. 2026

In the wake of the rightward trend that set in after the aggressively accessible bro-country craze of the 2010s, more and more performers would like to be widely accommodating and vaguely uncategorizable. —Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

by alteration

First Known Use

circa 1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing bro

• bro-ey

Rhymes for bro

• beau
• beaux
• blow
• boe
• coe
• crow
• doe
• doh
• dough
• eau
• eaux
• faux

Kids Definition

bro

noun

ˈbrō 

1

informal : brother sense 1

2

slang : brother sense 3