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Synonyms

guidebook

American  
[gahyd-book] / ˈgaɪdˌbʊk /

noun

  1. a book of directions, advice, and information, especially for travelers or tourists.

guidebook British  
/ ˈɡaɪdˌbʊk /

noun

  1. Also called: guide.  a handbook with information for visitors to a place, as a historic building, museum, or foreign country

"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

Other Word Forms

  • guidebookish adjective
  • guidebooky adjective

Etymology

Origin of guidebook

First recorded in 1805–15; guide + book

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.

He rewrote the guidebook for greeting and serving consumers, restricted cafe bathrooms to paying customers and returned condiment bars to the public.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

Carved pumpkins are a must on Stewart’s Halloween guidebook.

From Salon • Oct. 30, 2025

They have no guidebook for thinking about what exactly was at stake, what exactly they were giving up when they agreed.

From Slate • May 27, 2025

“When you travel through love, heartbreak, joy, parenting, friendship, uncertainty, aging, grief, new beginnings — life — you need a guidebook too.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2025

Thirty minutes before the hour I set out, my guidebook in my pocket, my breath fresh with Listerine.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

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.