friend

noun \ ˈfrend \

Updated on: 19 Mar 2018

Definition of friend

1 a : one attached to another by affection or esteem

She's my best friend.

b : acquaintance

2 a : one that is not hostile

Is he a friend or an enemy?

b : one that is of the same nation, party, or group

showbiz friends

3 : one that favors or promotes something (such as a charity)

this trend has alarmed friends of the liberal arts
—Raymond Walters

The friends of the library will host a fund-raiser.

4 : a favored companion

5 capitalized : a member of a Christian sect that stresses Inner Light, rejects sacraments and an ordained ministry, and opposes war — called also Quaker

—

friendless

play \ˈfren(d)-ləs\ adjective

—

friendlessness

noun

— be friends with

: to have a friendship or friendly relationship with

See friend defined for English-language learners

See friend defined for kids

Examples of friend in a Sentence

… she … got a job, made friends and managed to write a novel that hit the best-seller lists and stayed there … —Garrison Keillor, New York Times Book Review, 11 June 2006
Over the last couple of years I have experienced moments of disbelief when I meet my friends in public. They look older than I think they should. —Alice Munro, In the Stacks, 2002
Never had a friend like that before or since. Never laughed so hard in my life as I did with Manny. —Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
I'd like you to meet my friend.
He's no friend of mine.

Recent Examples of friend from the Web

Living in the same city, the two friends had no need to write each other letters.

— ryan p. smith, Smithsonian, "Ben Franklin May Be Responsible for Bringing Tofu to America," 15 Mar. 2018
Tyler shared a tent with his longtime friend, Josh Seals.

— gregg doyel, Indianapolis Star, "Doyel: Purdue freshman can't make tourney, but cancer is just an inconvenience," 15 Mar. 2018
Raiha Shah modeled Pakistani formal wear; her friend, Maryam Amjad, wore casual.

— patti restivo, Laurel Leader, "A world of views at Laurel High," 15 Mar. 2018
The friend did not give the packages to the man and they were later found to contain three iPhones and three iPads.

— andy attina / cleveland.com, cleveland.com, "Woman charged with theft suspected to be victim of a scam: Mayfield Heights Police Blotter," 14 Mar. 2018
Kerem Kinik, chairman of the Turkish Red Crescent, identified the deceased friends in a tweet as: Basaran, Zeynep Coskun, Ayse And, Burcu Urfali, Asli Izmirli, Liana Hananel, Jasmin Baruh and Sinem Akay.

— char adams, PEOPLE.com, "Bride-to-Be Heiress and Her 7 Friends Killed in Plane Crash After Bachelorette Party in Dubai," 13 Mar. 2018
The 18-year-old Lincoln Park High School senior thought of Cesar—the friend from dance class who was lost in a fatal shooting outside Curie Metro High School in June.

— ryan smith, Chicago Reader, "Education / News 'Heartbroken' CPS students inspired by Parkland teen activists to push for gun control in walkout Wednesday," 13 Mar. 2018
Of course, the friends Trump was really concerned about were inside U.S. borders, not outside.

— jimmy leach, Newsweek, "Trump’s Trade Barriers Aren’t Impressing the Rust Belt," 12 Mar. 2018
Meyer isn't the only thing the friends have in common.

— johnny gorches, Post-Tribune, "Mike Davidson's resurgence a big key for No. 1 Calumet College in men's bowling," 12 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'friend.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

What's the difference between friends and acquaintances?

People often distinguish between an acquaintance and a friend, holding that the former should be used primarily to refer to someone with whom one is not especially close. Many of the earliest uses of acquaintance were in fact in reference to a person with whom one was very close, but the word is now generally reserved for those who are known only slightly.

Acquaintance is often found paired with nodding. Although nodding acquaintance sounds like it describes a person who is known just enough to nod at, it tends to be used instead to refer to a thing or field with which one has a small amount of knowledge or familiarity (and this is the meaning that the phrase has had since its introduction to the language in the early 19th century).