girlfriend

plural girlfriends · alternative girl friend · alternative girl-friend · alternative girlfran

1. A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.

   Marc went to the park with his girlfriend and watched the sunset with her.

   5 more examples

   I was playing the acoustic guitar and my girlfriend was playing the drums.

   A gentleman did not like his girl-friend to have to undergo so much unpleasant questioning.

   1932, Dorothy L. Sayers, chapter XXXII, in Have His Carcase

   Want to pick some flowers, doctor? When a man visits an old girlfriend she usually expects something like that.

   1966, “The Man Trap”, in Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episode 1 (television production), spoken by Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Paramount Pictures

   Former Playboy Bunnies Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson, whose lives as Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends were featured in “The Girls Next Door” reality show, are feuding after Madison shared the claims of their less-than-glamorous life in the Playboy Mansion.

   2015 June 24, Katia Hetter, “Former Playboy girlfriends Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson feud”, in CNN, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2016

   Referring to someone as your boyfriend or girlfriend suggests several things about your relationship, said Leah Carey, a sex and relationship coach and podcast host of “Good Girls Talk About Sex.”

   2024 October 24, Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, “More straight couples are calling each other partner. Here’s why”, in CNN, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2025

2. datedA female friend of a woman or girl.

   Mary always enjoyed hanging out with her girlfriend Jessica.

   4 more examples

   That story should have applied to golf. I took it up in a casual way; a girl friend of my wife had stayed with us for a week-end and left her clubs behind.

   1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 189

   She's a very special girl (The kind of girl you want to know) / From her head down to her toenails (Down to her feet, yeah) / And she'll wait for me at backstage with her girlfriends / In a limousine (Long and black and shining bright)

   1981 August 28, Rick James, Alonzo Miller, “Super Freak”, in Street Songs, performed by Rick James, track 5

   My girl friend Deb told me she was sittin' up in the living room, her and Gary. And this Red O'Malley kid liked Gary at the time. She's—I'd say she was jealous, that's what I'd say she was. And she says, "Go on Gary, she's a whore. You can do whatever you want to her." […] An' I grabbed her by the hair, and I said, "If I ever hear you callin' any of my girlfriends a whore, you're gonna really find your ass all over the ground."

   2012, William Labov, “3. Hidden Diversity”, in Dialect Diversity in America: The Politics of Language Change, Charlottesville; London: University of Virginia Press, →ISBN

   […] for the past 45 years, Neri had sat outside with her girlfriends Fotini and Eleni, two school friends who, having grown old in their company, Neri loved dearly.

   2018, Shiv Kotecha, The Switch, United States: Wonder, →ISBN, page 135

   Synonyms: chickfriend

3. A fellow gay man, especially a friend as opposed to a sexual partner.

   [Tim:] james huh? my lover carlos's best girlfriend is named james. [James:] yes, i know. i AM your lover carlos's best girlfriend james.

   1994, Eric Orner, The Seven Deadly Sins of Love (reprinted in The Completely Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green (2015), p. 53)

4. A term of address for a female friend or among gay men.

   [Hanque:] girlfriend - how'r we doing? [Doug:] hi hanque, i'd like a capuccino and some lobster bisque.. [Caption:] (friendliness with the waitstaff is a good sign)

   1994, Eric Orner, The Seven Deadly Sins of Love (reprinted in The Completely Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green (2015), p. 32)

present singular third person girlfriends · participle present girlfriending · participle past girlfriended · past girlfriended · alternative girl friend · alternative girl-friend · alternative girlfran

1. ambitransitiveinformalrareTo be a girlfriend to (someone).

   Most Black women don't spend their time sitting around and complaining about bm/wf and "girlfriending" each other.

   1999 January 29, anita jamar, “I'm beginning to see the trend of more and more asian women dating white men.”, in soc.culture.asian.american (Usenet), archived from the original on 06 Dec 2025

   3 more examples

   I was girlfriended during the past two years by a woman who worked an average job, and while we never lived together the assumption among our friends was we'd get married one day.

   1996 August 12, kevin@upompeii.com, “Dating Dilemma”, in soc.singles (Usenet), archived from the original on 06 Dec 2025

   If money were a person, she’d be girlfriending with Oprah, sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom, and noshing with the Pope.

   2003, Sharon Durling, “Money and Meaning”, in A Girl and Her Money, Nashville, Tenn.: W Publishing Group, →ISBN, chapter 2 (Your Money Personality—and You Do Have One), page 24

   She was a superwoman, she thought. […] A working, mothering, girlfriending, housekeeping superhero! You see—it could be done!

   2017, Brian Platzer, chapter 5, in Bed-Stuy Is Burning: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Atria Books, →ISBN, page 19

2. ambitransitiveinformalrareTo have (someone) as a girlfriend.

   One day I wrote down all the girls I had serous^([sic]) chance of girlfriending them.

   2007 July 4, davidlaska, “I feel like a 10 cent whore”, in alt.life.sucks (Usenet), archived from the original on 06 Dec 2025

   3 more examples

   Back when I was single, I dated and girlfriended around quite a bit and found many responses to my VW buses.

   1996 May 9, Surfer Bob, “Why do girlfriends hate VWs?”, in rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled (Usenet), archived from the original on 06 Dec 2025

   > How does one "girlfriend", anyway? By getting a girlfriend. The act of obtaining a girlfriend is called girlfriending. Example: "...so, I hit her with the wrench, and she passed out. When she woke up, I told her that when she had ORIGINALLY gotten up, I girlfriended her and then knocked her out again, and she must have amnesia. Presto! Instant girlfriend!"

   1997 May 3, Hal Phillips, “People That Post to alt.discordia”, in alt.discordia (Usenet), archived from the original on 06 Dec 2025

   > first of all, where are you? i haven't seen a man in amb for a long time!!! […] err, working, girlfriending, generally running out of time.

   2001 May 1, johnband - lord of keys, “to male british ambers”, in alt.music.blur (Usenet), archived from the original on 06 Dec 2025