Gentleman or gentlemen?
gentlemen is the plural of gentleman. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) gentleman is about as common as gentlemen.
What is the difference between gentleman and gentlemen?
| gentleman | gentlemen | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man Any man | plural of gentleman Alternative form of gentlemen's: a men's room, a lavatory intended for use by men Alternative form of gentlemen: a men's room, a lavatory for use by men |
| Example | Please escort this gentleman to the gentlemen's room | "You go and leave them in the Gentlemen." "Leave 'em in the lavatory?" |
| Forms | gentlemen | none |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒɛn.təl.mən/ [ˈd͡ʒɛɾ̃.ɫ̩.mən] | /ˈd͡ʒɛn.təl.mɪn/ /-ən/ /-ɛn/ |
| In writing | 14 times per million words | 13 times per million words |
Sources: gentleman and gentlemen in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of gentleman and gentlemen
gentleman
- 1
Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man
- 2
Any man
Please escort this gentleman to the gentlemen's room
- 3
A man of gentle but not noble birth, particularly a man of means (originally ownership of property) who does not work for a living but has no official status in a peerage; (UK law) an armigerous man…
Being a gentleman, Robert was entitled to shove other commoners into the gongpit but he still had to jump out of the way of the knights to avoid the same fate himself
- 4
derogatoryAn effeminate or oversophisticated man
Well, la-di-da, aren't you just a proper gentleman?
- 5
derogatoryAn amateur or dabbler in any field, particularly those of independent means
- 6
An amateur player, particularly one whose wealth permits him to forego payment
gentlemen
- 1
Alternative form of gentlemen's: a men's room, a lavatory intended for use by men
- 2
Alternative form of gentlemen: a men's room, a lavatory for use by men
"You go and leave them in the Gentlemen." "Leave 'em in the lavatory?"
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, gentleman or gentlemen?
gentleman appears 14 times per million words; gentlemen 13 times per million words.
gentleman 14 times per million wordsgentlemen 13 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search gentleman vs gentlemen?
“gentleman vs gentlemen” is searched about 1,600 times a month on Google and 30 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“gentlemen vs gentleman”, “gentleman or gentlemen”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.