anybody

[ en-ee-bod-ee, -buhd-ee ]

pronoun

1. any person.

noun

, plural an·y·bod·ies.

1. a person of some importance:

   If you're anybody, you'll receive an invitation.

anybody

/ ˈɛnɪˌbɒdɪ; -bədɪ /

pronoun

1. any person; anyone
2. usually used with a negative or a question a person of any importance

   he isn't anybody in this town

noun

1. often preceded by just any person at random; no matter who

Usage Note

See each, they ( def ).

Spelling Note

The pronoun anybody is always written as one word: Is anybody home? There isn't anybody in the office. The two-word noun phrase any body means “any group” ( Any body of students will include a few dissidents ) or “any physical body” ( The search continued for a week despite the failure to find any body ). If the word a can be substituted for any without seriously affecting the meaning, the two-word noun phrase is called for: a body of students; failure to find a body. If the substitution cannot be made, the spelling is anybody. Anybody is less formal than anyone. anyone.

Word History and Origins

Origin of anybody¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, anybody is from Middle English ani bodi. See any, body

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. anybody's guess, a matter of conjecture:

   It's anybody's guess why she quit.

Example Sentences

Another man, Dom, tells his young son constantly how much he loves him, and says he hated the thought of anybody close to him dying without knowing how much they meant to him.

From BBC

"It's a different way of learning and once you have those tools, you can learn just as well as anybody else," he told BBC London.

From BBC

"The restrictions are just so extreme that it does not even make sense to anybody," says Malala.

From BBC

“The fact that anybody would use deeply flawed and misleading rankings as part of their strategic plan for a university is appalling,” Dr. Diermeier said in an interview.

From New York Times

I didn’t want to annoy him, I don’t want to annoy anybody.

From BBC

Related Words

• anyone
• everybody
• everyone
• public