friend zone

noun

variants or less commonly friendzone
ˈfren(d)-ˌzōn How to pronounce friend zone (audio)
: a state of friendship in which one's romantic or sexual interest in someone is not reciprocated
Is it possible to go from friend zone to romance with one of your guy friends if you've only ever been platonic?— Ky Henderson
… the teen romance based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling Twilight books about the love triangle between a girl from a broken home, an overprotective vampire who has intimacy issues and an amorous werewolf stuck in the friend zone.— Neil Strauss

Examples of friend zone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That will protect the intimate connection and prevent your partner from ending up in the friend zone. — Dominique Fluker, Essence, 14 Feb. 2025 Teens want movies and shows to stay in the friend zone. — Brent Lang, Variety, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1994, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of friend zone was in 1994

Rhymes for friend zone

See All Rhymes for friend zone

Browse Nearby Words

friend zone
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Friend zone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/friend%20zone. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
dog-in-disguise
Rhyme Disguise Quiz Pair up words that look different but sound alike.
See All