girlfriend

girlfriend — noun

1. a female romantic partner that someone is steadily dating and shares a loving re

1.名詞A2
釋義

a female romantic partner that someone is steadily dating and shares a loving relationship with

例句

Lukas brought his girlfriend Sana to meet his parents last weekend.

[possessive determiner] + girlfriend + [name]

Yan has been dating his girlfriend Amani for over two years now.

have been dating [possessive] girlfriend + [time period]

同義詞
  • partner

    more formal and gender-neutral; can refer to any long-term romantic companion

  • lover

    more intimate, emphasizing the physical or sexual side of the relationship

  • significant other

    formal and polite, often used on official forms or in careful social contexts

  • date

    refers to a person you are seeing casually, usually before the relationship becomes serious or exclusive

反義詞

文法句型

[possessive determiner] + girlfriend

[possessive determiner] + girlfriend + [name]

常見錯誤

❌She introduced me to her girlfriend' (without context, said by a woman).
✅She introduced me to her partner' or 'She introduced me to her girlfriend, Mei.
💡when a woman says 'my girlfriend' to mean a romantic partner, listeners may think she means a platonic female friend (sense 2). Adding the person's name or context about the relationship avoids confusion.

2. a female friend that a woman has, with no romantic involvement between them — th

2.名詞B1
釋義

a female friend that a woman has, with no romantic involvement between them — this older meaning has become less common because people now use 'girlfriend' mostly for the romantic partner sense

例句

Dewi went shopping with her girlfriends from college last Saturday.

often plural: girlfriends

Sivan met her old girlfriend from high school for lunch.

同義詞
  • female friend

    neutral and completely unambiguous

  • pal

    informal and friendly, but gender-neutral

  • buddy

    casual, can be used for male and female friends

文法句型

[possessive determiner] + girlfriends (plural)

[possessive determiner] + old girlfriend

用法筆記

This sense was common in the mid-20th century but is now less frequent because it can be confused with sense 1 ('ROMANTIC PARTNER'). When women want to avoid ambiguity, they often use 'female friend' or simply 'friend' instead. The plural 'girlfriends' is still widely used to mean a group of female friends without romantic meaning.

常見錯誤

❌I am going out with my girlfriend tonight' (said by a woman, meaning a platonic friend).
✅I am going out with my female friend tonight' or 'I am going out with my friends tonight.
💡without context, most English speakers now assume 'girlfriend' means a romantic partner.

3. a friendly and informal term that one woman uses to address another woman direct

3.名詞B1
釋義

a friendly and informal term that one woman uses to address another woman directly — similar to saying 'dear' or 'sister' in English

例句

Listen, girlfriend, you have to tell him how you really feel.

used as a direct address (vocative)

Hey girlfriend, it has been way too long since we last talked.

同義詞
  • girl

    informal, used the same way to address a female friend directly

  • hon

    short for 'honey', used as a friendly address between women

文法句型

used as a vocative at the beginning or end of a sentence

用法筆記

Only used by women when speaking to other women in casual conversation. It conveys warmth, familiarity, and solidarity. Equivalent to terms like 'honey,' 'dear,' or 'girl' in informal American English. This sense is most common in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and in friendly Southern US speech.