girlfriend
- 01 A1 Beginner
a woman or girl that someone is having a romantic relationship with.
a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship.
Simple“He invited his girlfriend to meet his parents for dinner on Saturday.”
In context“After dating for nearly three years, he finally introduced his girlfriend to his extended family during the holiday celebrations.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B1 Intermediate
a woman's female friend.
a female friend of another female; often used in plural to refer to a social group.
Simple“She is going out for coffee with her girlfriends this afternoon.”
In context“She maintained a close-knit circle of girlfriends from her university days, meeting them annually for a weekend retreat.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
a friendly way to address a woman or a gay man.
a familiar term of address used among women or within the gay community to signal rapport.
Simple“Listen, girlfriend, you need to stop worrying about what he thinks.”
In context“The speaker used the term 'girlfriend' as a playful, supportive interjection during their conversation about career goals.”
Compound of girl + friend.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.