ENGLISH
REFERENCE

guy

n. countable
A2 Elementary Oxford US //ˈɡaɪ// UK //ɡˈaɪ// guy Archaic General-service Informal

n. a man or a boy. In the plural form, people often use it to address a group of friends, regardless of their gender.

n. a man or male person. In the plural, it functions as a gender-neutral vocative to address a group of people in informal contexts.


SIMPLE

That guy over there is my brother.

CONTEXTUAL

I met a guy at the conference who works for the same company as you do.

COMPLEX

While the term originally referred specifically to males, modern usage has shifted so that a speaker might address a room of women by saying 'you guys' without causing any confusion.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Old French Gui, a form of Proto-Germanic Wido, a short form of names beginning with the element widuz (“wood”), such as Witold and Widukind. Cognate with Italian Guido and thus a doublet of Guido. More at wood.

Etymology 2

From the Hebrew name גַּיְא (gáy, literally “valley”), with the spelling influenced by the existing English name.

Etymology 3

For places which could be from either etymology above.

Usage

In the plural, 'guys' is frequently used as a gender-neutral term of address in informal speech.

Pitfall

He is a good guys.He is a good guy.Learners sometimes use the plural form 'guys' when referring to a single person because they hear the plural used so frequently in greetings.

Idioms2 entries

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