befriend

American  

[bih-frend] / bɪˈfrɛnd /

verb (used with object)

1. to make friends or become friendly with; act as a friend to; help; aid.

   to befriend the lonely and the disregarded.

   Synonyms:

   welcome, succor, sustain, encourage, assist, associate, ally

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befriend British  

/ bɪˈfrɛnd /

verb

1. (tr) to be a friend to; assist; favour

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Other Word Forms

• unbefriended adjective

Etymology

Origin of befriend

First recorded in 1550–60; be- + friend

Explanation

There are many ways to make someone your friend. You can offer assistance with a project, or provide comfort at a time of loss. Perhaps the easiest way to befriend someone, however, is just to smile and say "hi." The prefix "be-" is from Old English, and has several meanings. In befriend, the meaning is "cause to be," so to befriend someone is to cause him or her to be your friend. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.”

Example Sentences

“They befriend you and say all the right things to get to you,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

In a similar leap, Jimmy and Alice forgive and befriend Goldstein’s Louis, the man who crashed his car into Tia’s and killed her.

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2026

Ninety-five percent said they would help peers who were feeling down, and nearly 90% wanted to befriend students they didn’t know.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

One method, Friend A recalls, was simple: Agnes would befriend someone who offered to buy her a drink, then quietly ask the bartender to skip the drink and hand her the cash instead.

From BBC • Sep. 20, 2025

I forced myself to befriend other students, clumsily introducing myself again and again until I had a small circle of friends.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Related Words

• advise
• aid
• patronize