guidebook

noun

guide·​book ˈgīd-ˌbu̇k 

plural guidebooks

: a book that gives useful information about a particular subject : handbook

I had been hired to write a cultural study, "how to" guidebook on being a Canadian …

—Will Ferguson

especially : a book of information for travelers

Most cities have some sort of restaurant guidebook that often proves helpful.

—Jinx and Jefferson Morgan

Examples of guidebook in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Travelers now want something a guidebook can’t deliver — a meal at the corner spot the bus tours skip, a story about the temple that only the neighborhood knows, an afternoon shaped by someone who actually lives there. —Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 8 June 2026

Thanks to the quality of the fish, word of mouth, foreign guidebooks, and now Moe’s exertions on Instagram, there are long lines at the door, especially on weekends. —David Remnick, New Yorker, 8 June 2026

Travelers stay with a host family, share meals, learn customs firsthand and gain insider knowledge no guidebook can offer. —Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 1 June 2026

Advertisement The cleanup goes global Until the smartphone era, this was a localized phenomenon, a curious factoid in a guidebook to Japan. —Bobby Ghosh, Time, 1 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for guidebook

• kinderhook
• meadowbrook
• overlook
• overtook
• pocketbook
• storybook
• tillamook
• undertook
• betook
• casebook
• chapbook
• checkbook

Kids Definition

guidebook

noun

guide·​book ˈgīd-ˌbu̇k 

: a book of information for travelers