Guys

How to spell guys

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce guys

What does guys mean?

1. nounAn informal plural term for a group of men, or for a mixed group of people generally.

Guys in a sentence

• The guys from the warehouse helped me load the van.

• She asked the guys at the table what they wanted to order.

Where does guys come from?

Language of origin: Other

This word descends directly from the name of Guy Fawkes, the conspirator caught beneath the English Parliament in 1605 with barrels of gunpowder. On the anniversary of that failed plot, people began burning crude stuffed effigies, and by the early 1800s such a figure was simply called a 'guy'. Because the effigies were grotesque and shabbily dressed, 'guy' came to mean any oddly dressed or peculiar-looking person, especially in British use. American English then softened the sense into a neutral, friendly word for a man, and the plural 'guys' broadened further to address a mixed group of people of any gender. The spelling stays close to the original proper name, which is why it keeps the 'gu' opening rather than a simple 'gy'.

How the word is built

• guy (effigy, from the name Guy Fawkes)
• -s (plural)

Words that sound like guys

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• guise: An external appearance or pretence, especially a false or assumed one that conceals a true intention.