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PlainSpell

boyfriend

/ˈbɔɪˌfɹɛnd/noun, verb

boyfriend is spelled B-O-Y-F-R-I-E-N-D: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 39 times per million words in written English, the 2,523rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, boyfriend means “A male partner in an unmarried romantic relationship” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of boyfriend is boyfriends.

How many letters and syllables are in boyfriend?

Letters9: B-O-Y-F-R-I-E-N-D
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing39 times per million words; the 2,523rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is boyfriend?

Boyfriend appears 39 times per million words in written English, the 2,523rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce boyfriend?

  • US /ˈbɔɪˌfɹɛnd/
  • US /ˈbɔɪfɹənd/

Boyfriend has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-boyfriend.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with boyfriend

Also written: boy-friend (one word or two).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of boyfriend

  • boyfriends plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • boifriend
  • boyfriending participle, present
  • boyfriended participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does boyfriend mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A male partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.

    I was playing the drums and my boyfriend was playing the electric guitar.

  2. 2

    A male friend.

  3. 3

    A style of women's clothing that draws heavily from corresponding men's garments.

verb

  1. 1

    informalrareTo be a boyfriend to (someone).

  2. 2

    informalrareTo have (someone) as a boyfriend.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate boyfriend?

Wiktionary records 4 abbreviations of boyfriend: BF, b/f, bf, boyf.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Boyfriend in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmon/ton/son ami, petit ami, mon/ton/son copain, petit copain, chum, mec (male partner in a romantic relationship)
Germanmein/dein/ihr/sein Freund, Boyfriend, fester Freund (male partner in a romantic relationship), Freund (male friend)
Portuguesenamorado (male partner in a romantic relationship), amigo (male friend)
Spanishnovio, pololo, enamorado, chongo, jevo, gebo (male partner in a romantic relationship)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does boyfriend come from?

From boy + friend.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after boyfriend