bosom buddy

[ booz-uhm buhd-ee ]

noun

, plural bos·om bud·dies.

1. a close or intimate friend; bosom friend:

   I didn't lack for friends, but had no particular bosom buddy.

   Since third grade she and I have been kindred spirits and bosom buddies.

2. a nefarious associate or co-conspirator:

   After the Soviet takeover in 1920, the building was occupied by one of Stalin's bosom buddies.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bosom buddy¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Charles Lummis, a Harvard dropout and bosom buddy of Teddy Roosevelt’s, had caught malaria in Ohio.

From Los Angeles Times

Grant accepts most of that secondary order, but Kidman's character isn't exactly bosom buddy material either.

From Salon

"One of the great joys of my life was to be a good bosom buddy with Justice Scalia during the last 10 years of his life," he recounted.

From Fox News

It wasn’t like I was a bosom buddy of his, we didn’t hang out constantly, but it was more about who he was and what he represented that impressed me.

From Los Angeles Times

He also warned Democrats that his bosom buddy could win reelection in a 40-state landslide.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• acquaintance
• ally
• associate
• buddy
• classmate
• colleague
• companion
• cousin
• partner
• roommate