goodbye
Americaninterjection
noun
-
goodbyes
plural
noun
-
a leave-taking; parting
they prolonged their goodbyes for a few more minutes
-
a farewell
they said goodbyes to each other
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of goodbye
First recorded in 1565–75; contraction of God be with ye
Explanation
Goodbye is a parting word, something you say to other people when you're leaving. You might say goodbye to all your favorite teachers on your last day of high school. A goodbye means that someone's departing: you say goodbye to your parents when you go off to college, and you also say goodbye to guests when they leave after a visit. The original goodbye, dating from the 1570s, was godbwye, which was a contraction of the farewell phrase "God be with ye!"
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.
See Examples For:
Say goodbye, though, to Tesla, which will now inevitably disappear forever into SpaceX and Musk’s dream of a galactic mega-entity.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026
Leaving the United States doesn’t mean waving goodbye to the U.S. tax system.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Witkoff recently had to say goodbye to his own $24,000 a year abatement on a multimillion-dollar Manhattan apartment—a perk his representatives said he didn’t realize he was receiving.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
No matter what happens, no matter if he plays again or if you have a game to say goodbye to Ronaldo things will never be the same.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Did they casually wave goodbye to their families, believing they’d see them again?
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
By the time the night was over, and Dailor was alone out front saying his goodbyes and tossing drumsticks into the crowd, Mastodon showed it was still surviving and thriving.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Relatives crouched on the floor to say their final goodbyes to loved ones, kissing the faces of the dead between sobs.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Crowds lined the streets to say their goodbyes to the "very special lady" as her coffin travelled through her home town of Milford in Surrey before the service at Guildford Cathedral.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
McCall said his goodbyes to the StoneX Stadium after last Saturday's win over Harlequins.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
After Mrs. Ruth is finished filling out her form, we say our goodbyes.
From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
