lifelong best friend

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableinformal

   A person who has been your closest friend for your whole life or for as long as you can remember.

   Grammar: Countable; use 'a lifelong best friend' or 'lifelong best friends'.

   Patterns

   • someone's lifelong best friend
   • a lifelong best friend of someone

   Maya has been my lifelong best friend since we were babies.

   He married his lifelong best friend from high school.

2. 2nouncountablefigurativeinformal

   Used figuratively to describe something you have loved or trusted for a very long time.

   Grammar: Often used in advertising or reviews; still countable.

   Patterns

   • a lifelong best friend to someone
   • someone's lifelong best friend

   This old guitar has been my lifelong best friend through good times and bad.

   For many readers, the library is a lifelong best friend.

Word forms

Common combinations

my lifelong best friend

My lifelong best friend knows all my secrets.

become lifelong best friends

They met at camp and became lifelong best friends.

a lifelong best friend of mine

She is a lifelong best friend of mine.

Synonyms and how they differ

childhood friend

This means a friend from childhood, but it does not necessarily mean the friendship lasted your whole life.

old friend

This can mean a friend you have known a long time, but it can also simply mean a friend who is old in age.

Word family

lifelong adjective

Lasting for all of a person's life.

best friend noun

A person's closest friend at a particular time.

Commonly confused: lifelong best friend or longtime friend?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “lifelong best friend”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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