guest

¹

[ gest ]

noun

1. a person who spends some time at another person's home in some social activity, as a visit, dinner, or party.

   Synonyms: company

2. a person who receives the hospitality of a club, a city, or the like.
3. a person who patronizes a hotel, restaurant, etc., for the lodging, food, or entertainment it provides.
4. an often well-known person invited to participate or perform in a regular program, series, etc., as a substitute for a regular member or as a special attraction.
5. Zoology. an inquiline.

verb (used with object)

1. to entertain as a guest.

verb (used without object)

1. to be a guest; make an appearance as a guest:

   She's been guesting on all the TV talk shows.

adjective

1. provided for or done by a guest:

   a guest towel; a guest column for a newspaper.

2. participating or performing as a guest:

   a guest conductor.

Guest

²

[ gest ]

noun

1. Edgar A(lbert), 1881–1959, U.S. journalist and writer of verse, born in England.

guest

/ ɡɛst /

noun

1. a person who is entertained, taken out to eat, etc, and paid for by another
2. 1. a person who receives hospitality at the home of another

      a weekend guest

   2. ( as modifier )

      the guest room

3. 1. a person who receives the hospitality of a government, establishment, or organization
   2. ( as modifier )

      a guest speaker

4. 1. an actor, contestant, entertainer, etc, taking part as a visitor in a programme in which there are also regular participants
   2. ( as modifier )

      a guest appearance

5. a patron of a hotel, boarding house, restaurant, etc
6. zoology a nontechnical name for inquiline
7. be my guest informal.
   do as you like

verb

1. intr (in theatre and broadcasting) to be a guest

   to guest on a show

Other Words From

• guestless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of guest¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr; replacing Old English gi(e)st; cognate with German Gast, Gothic gasts, Latin hostis; host ¹, host ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of guest¹

Old English giest guest, stranger, enemy; related to Old Norse gestr, Gothic gasts, Old High German gast, Old Slavonic gostǐ, Latin hostis enemy

Idioms and Phrases

see be my guest .

Synonym Study

See visitor.

Example Sentences

In the final episode, he made a cameo appearance as himself, arriving as a guest at Nessa’s wedding as she prepared to marry fiance Dave Coaches.

From BBC

A staff member at the hotel described a belligerent and “very intoxicated” Hegseth shouting about his right to “freedom of speech” near the pool after guest complaints.

From Salon

Set life for us is so good that when other people come to visit us on set, other guest stars, they're always like, "Wow, you all are happy."

From Salon

The BBC said the show would see Ellis-Bextor perform a selection of her hits, including her latest hit Freedom Of The Night, as well as some "surprise numbers" featuring "all-star guests".

From BBC

As a senior politician, Mr. Prescott would hold a summer party on a boat in the Thames and would make a point of extracting money from his guests to tip the staff.

From New York Times

Related Words

• caller
• client
• companion
• customer
• inmate
• patron
• recipient
• tenant
• vacationer
• visitor