lad

noun

ˈlad 

1

: a male person of any age between early boyhood and maturity : boy, youth

2

: fellow, chap

Synonyms of lad

• boy
• kid
• teenager

Examples of lad in a Sentence

Life was hard when I was a lad.

Well, lad, I hope you won't make the same mistake again!

He's a good lad at heart.

They can't treat us like that, can they, lads?!

Recent Examples on the Web

Or is a ‘good’ World Cup actually one in which none of your lads featured, or their country got knocked out early, and are therefore going to be fresh heading into the 10 gruelling months ahead? — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 24 July 2026

This intensive five-day retreat welcomes only America’s dudes, bros, lads, sons and fathers. — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 21 June 2026

Aussie Rules lads are almost clothed enough to enter a convenience store. — Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026

The unanimous rave reviews convinced him this wasn’t just about his head being turned by four pretty lads, one in particular. — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 18 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ladde

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for lad

• ad
• add
• bad
• brad
• cad
• clad
• dad
• fad
• gad
• glad
• grad
• had

Kids Definition

lad

noun

ˈlad 

1

: boy sense 1, youth

2

: fellow entry 1 sense 4a, chap