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Synonyms

anybody

American  
[en-ee-bod-ee, -buhd-ee] / ˈɛn iˌbɒd i, -ˌbʌd i /

pronoun

  1. any person.

noun

plural

anybodies

  1. a person of some importance.

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

idioms

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

    It's anybody's guess why she quit.
anybody British  
/ 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
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Spelling

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. See also anyone.

Usage

See each, they ( def. ).

Etymology

Origin of anybody

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

Compare meaning

How does anybody compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“I have no idea why anybody would voluntarily use it.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Ninety percent of it doesn’t land on anybody.

From Los Angeles Times

She said it was "so lovely that anybody would bother to come up and chew the cud with you for a while"

From BBC

“If he’d waited two or three weeks, it would have been a disaster. Once the dominoes start toppling, they just start toppling—and that line is shorter than anybody thinks,” Buffett said of Powell’s actions.

From Barron's

The Toronto Blue Jays threw more splitters than anybody in the sport and won the American League pennant.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.