Boy — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

a youthful male person

a friendly informal reference to a grown man

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/kˈæɹæt/

🇬🇧British English

/bˈaɪaʊt/

🇮🇳Indian English

/bˈaɪaʊt/

1 syllable Say it as /kˈæɹæt/.

Examples

the baby was a boy
she made the boy brush his teeth every night
most soldiers are only boys in uniform

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

male child son

Antonyms

girl daughter female child

Parts of Speech

noun	a youthful male person “the baby was a boy”
noun	a friendly informal reference to a grown man “he likes to play golf with the boys”
noun	a male human offspring “their son became a famous judge”
noun	(ethnic slur) offensive and disparaging term for Black man “get out of my way, boy”

Word Forms

boyhood

noun

the childhood of a boy

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

Junge

eine jugendliche männliche Person

🇫🇷French

garçon

un jeune homme

🇪🇸Spanish

chico

un hombre joven

🇮🇹Italian

ragazzo

una persona giovane di sesso maschile

🇳🇱Dutch

jongen

een jeugdig mannelijk persoon

🇵🇹Portuguese

garoto

um jovem do sexo masculino

🇷🇺Russian

мальчик

молодой мужчина

India

🇮🇳Hindi

लड़का

एक युवा पुरुष व्यक्ति

🇧🇩Bengali

ছেলে

একজন যুবক পুরুষ মানুষ

🇮🇳Tamil

சிறுவன்

ஒரு இளம் ஆண் நபர்

🇮🇳Telugu

అబ్బాయి

ఒక యవ్వన పురుషుడు

🇮🇳Marathi

मुलगा

एक तरुण पुरुष व्यक्ती

🇮🇳Gujarati

છોકરો

એક યુવાન પુરુષ વ્યક્તિ

🇮🇳Kannada

ಹುಡುಗ

ಯೌವನದ ಪುರುಷ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ

🇮🇳Malayalam

ആൺകുട്ടി

യൗവനക്കാരനായ ഒരു പുരുഷൻ

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਮੁੰਡਾ

ਇੱਕ ਜਵਾਨ ਪੁਰਸ਼ ਵਿਅਕਤੀ

🇵🇰Urdu

لڑکا

ایک نوجوان مرد

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

男生

一个年轻的男性

🇯🇵Japanese

男の子

若々しい男性の人

🇰🇷Korean

소년

젊은 남자

🇻🇳Vietnamese

con trai

một người đàn ông trẻ trung

🇹🇭Thai

เด็กผู้ชาย

ชายหนุ่มคนหนึ่ง

🇮🇩Indonesian

anak laki-laki

seorang laki-laki muda

🇵🇭Filipino

batang lalaki

isang kabataang lalaki

🇲🇾Malay

budak lelaki

seorang lelaki muda

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

ولد

شخص شاب من الذكور

🇮🇷Persian

پسر

یک مرد جوان

🇹🇷Turkish

erkek çocuk

genç bir erkek kişi

🇮🇱Hebrew

יֶלֶד

אדם זכר צעיר

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'boy'?

The primary meaning of 'boy' is 'a youthful male person'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'boy' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'boy' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'boy' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'boy' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'boy' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'boy' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'boy' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'boy' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'boy' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'boy' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted