1
as in kids
a male person who has not yet reached adulthood
a giggling little boy ran by
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in boyfriends
a male romantic companion
their teenaged daughter has a new boy, and she's just crazy about him
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of boys
Offenders will sometimes exploit young women first before targeting boys like Bohn.
—
Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Parents tend to perceive less need to safeguard boys, encouraging more adventurous risky behaviors, according to a 2024 cross-sectional study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health.
—Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys Athlete of the Week poll.
—Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 13 Oct. 2025
The group has allowed students to decide whether to participate in boys or girls sports based on their gender identity since 2014.
—Alex Derosier, Twin Cities, 12 Oct. 2025
There’s a delicate balance between humor and humility, and Candy found it, Mac argues, noting that his teenage boys became incredibly invested in the Uncle Buck star, who died of a heart attack in 1994.
—Marina Watts, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
There’s drag, and then there’s the drag-on-drag of girls playing boys playing girls playing… well, however that flow chat pans out.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025
One out of every four boys on campus plays football.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Oct. 2025
The identities of the two boys and their cause of death were not immediately released, but foul play is not suspected, according to WFAA.
—Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Oct. 2025
Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Parents tend to perceive less need to safeguard boys, encouraging more adventurous risky behaviors, according to a 2024 cross-sectional study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health.
—Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys Athlete of the Week poll.
—Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 13 Oct. 2025
The group has allowed students to decide whether to participate in boys or girls sports based on their gender identity since 2014.
—Alex Derosier, Twin Cities, 12 Oct. 2025
There’s a delicate balance between humor and humility, and Candy found it, Mac argues, noting that his teenage boys became incredibly invested in the Uncle Buck star, who died of a heart attack in 1994.
—Marina Watts, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
There’s drag, and then there’s the drag-on-drag of girls playing boys playing girls playing… well, however that flow chat pans out.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025
One out of every four boys on campus plays football.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Oct. 2025
The identities of the two boys and their cause of death were not immediately released, but foul play is not suspected, according to WFAA.
—Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boys
Noun
-
As my generation continues to age, many of our kids will eventually be monitoring us.—
Don Riddell,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
-
To bring structure to their busy home, one Tennessee couple created a set of rules and expectations for their kids to follow.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Her Godfather costar, Al Pacino, was one of her boyfriends in real life.—
Mandalit del Barco,
NPR,
12 Oct. 2025
-
People are even skipping human dating altogether in favor of AI boyfriends and girlfriends.—
Myisha Battle,
Time,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Girls who play sports are more likely to attend college, less likely to become pregnant as teenagers, and more likely to land good jobs after graduation.—
Kimberly Wilson,
Essence,
14 Oct. 2025
-
In his new book, Federline wrote that the boys once came to him with concerning allegations regarding their pop star mom, and did not want to spend time at her house as teenagers.—
Rachel DeSantis,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Three of City’s greatest-ever players in Mike Summerbee, Neil Young and Francis Lee were born in or close to Manchester and seven City players in a 1985 derby were local lads.—
Andy Mitten,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
-
At their gigs in London’s massive Wembley Stadium and in Manchester’s Heaton Park, lads cried and moshed and showered each other in beer and cider and more questionable liquids.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
According to Meadowridge Academy, the school is a residential therapeutic school in Swansea serving youths ages 12 to 21 with behavioral, mental health or trauma-related challenges.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
17 Oct. 2025
-
The survey of nearly 1,700 youths between the ages of 13 and 24 by the Trevor Project, a national LGBTQ+ youth advocacy group focused on suicide prevention, also found suicide ideation grew from 41% to 47% over the one-year period while suicide attempts decreased from 11% to 7%.—
Ken Alltucker,
USA Today,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Boys.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boys. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share