Phrase guide

best man

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The primary attendant to the groom in a wedding ceremony.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see best, man.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the principal groomsman at a wedding

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: groomsman

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

54 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: strooijonker — primary attendant to the groom
  • Asturian: padrín — primary attendant to the groom
  • Bulgarian: кум (kum) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Catalan: padrí — primary attendant to the groom
  • Chinese Mandarin: 男儐相 /男傧相 (nánbīnxiāng) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Czech: družba — primary attendant to the groom
  • Czech: ženichův svědek — primary attendant to the groom
  • Czech: svědek — primary attendant to the groom
  • Danish: forlover — primary attendant to the groom
  • Dutch: getuige voor de bruidegom — primary attendant to the groom
  • Esperanto: fianĉamiko — primary attendant to the groom
  • Finnish: bestman — primary attendant to the groom
  • Finnish: puhemies — primary attendant to the groom
  • French: témoin — primary attendant to the groom
  • French: garçon d’honneur — primary attendant to the groom
  • Georgian: მეჯვარე (meǯvare) — primary attendant to the groom
  • German: Trauzeuge — primary attendant to the groom
  • Greek: κουμπάρος (koumpáros) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Hebrew: שׁוּשְׁבִין (shushvín) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Hungarian: vőfély — primary attendant to the groom
  • Hungarian: násznagy — primary attendant to the groom
  • Icelandic: svaramaður — primary attendant to the groom
  • Irish: vaidhtéir — primary attendant to the groom
  • Italian: testimone — primary attendant to the groom
  • Italian: testimone di nozze — primary attendant to the groom
  • Japanese: ベストマン (besutoman) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Japanese: 介添人 (kaizoenin) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Northern Kurdish: birazava — primary attendant to the groom
  • Macedonian: кум (kum) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Macedonian: старосват (starosvat) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Macedonian: девер (dever) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Macedonian: шафер (šafer) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Norwegian Bokmål: forlover — primary attendant to the groom
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: forlovar — primary attendant to the groom
  • Polish: drużba — primary attendant to the groom
  • Portuguese: padrinho — primary attendant to the groom
  • Romanian: cavaler de onoare — primary attendant to the groom
  • Russian: ша́фер (šáfer) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Russian: дру́жка (drúžka) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Russian: свиде́тель (svidételʹ) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Scottish Gaelic: fear-comhailteachd — primary attendant to the groom
  • Scottish Gaelic: fleasgach — primary attendant to the groom
  • Scottish Gaelic: fleasgach fear-bainnse — primary attendant to the groom
  • Scottish Gaelic: gille-comhailteachd — primary attendant to the groom
  • Serbo-Croatian: девер — primary attendant to the groom
  • Serbo-Croatian: dever — primary attendant to the groom
  • Spanish: padrino — primary attendant to the groom
  • Sundanese: pagarbagus — primary attendant to the groom
  • Tagalog: abay na lalaki — primary attendant to the groom
  • Thai: เพื่อนเจ้าบ่าว — primary attendant to the groom
  • Turkish: sağdıç — primary attendant to the groom
  • Ukrainian: свідок (svidok) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Ukrainian: дружба (družba) — primary attendant to the groom
  • Zazaki: doçman — primary attendant to the groom