: a person who accompanies an invited guest to an event or gathering at which guests are allowed to bring a companion or partner
My husband twice received handsome engraved invitations to presidential dinners. For those events and many others, I was the perpetual plus-one.Ana Marie Cox

Examples of plus-one in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The result is that the entire research community, since so much money has been poured into this, is just going for n-plus-one research improvements. Victor Dey, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026 However, the Scarpetta actress broke Met Gala rules by bringing her eldest daughter as her plus-one to the biggest night in fashion on May 4. Lara Walsh, InStyle, 18 July 2026 Meanwhile, Tohn, 18 at the time, was attending the event as actor Benjamin Salisbury’s plus-one. Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 17 July 2026 His mother, Bridgette Baldwin, was his plus-one and walked the red carpet with him before Tuesday’s exhibition. Chad Bishop, AJC.com, 15 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for plus-one

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of plus-one was in 1977

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Cite this Entry

“Plus-one.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plus-one. Accessed 28 Jul. 2026.

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