1
: a male person of any age between early boyhood and maturity : boy, youth
2

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 In April, Prince George and Prince William went to a home game together and eagerly cheered on the team, where the dad and lad animatedly had the same expressions! Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 9 Nov. 2023 The anticipation of the crowd overcame some trepidation emanating from the band; the four lads seemed a bit uneven, almost by their own admission. Brad Auerbach, Spin, 6 Oct. 2023 Our first stop is Beckett’s early childhood in suburban Dublin, where the young lad’s love of poetry and lyrical thinking is nurtured by his kindly father William (Barry O’Connor) and challenged by his gorgon-like mother May (Lisa Dwyer Hogg). Guy Lodge, Variety, 1 Oct. 2023 The last magazine to call itself that was an early aughts British lad mag. Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 22 Sep. 2023 Here’s your chance, lads and lassies, to snap up a historic home in Scotland from one of the United States’ most beloved musicians. Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 20 Sep. 2023 Future New York congressman John Hall is in the center of the bunch, but move your gaze to the young lad with his head on Hall’s right shoulder, the only fellow without a beard. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 26 July 2023 Mullin had hoped to relax on a beach Wednesday while some of the other lads, as Parkinson calls his footballers, went to a San Diego Padres baseball game. Bernie Wilson, Fortune, 27 July 2023 When the Beatles debuted in the 1960s, they were considered nice lads, while the Rolling Stones were bad boys and Jagger was scandalous; fans followed his private life with affectionate shock. Tim Gray, Variety, 26 July 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lad.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ladde

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of lad was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near lad

Cite this Entry

“Lad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lad. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

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