the boy/girl next door

noun phrase

: a wholesome young man/woman from a middle-class family
He/She seemed like the boy/girl next door.

Examples of the boy/girl next door in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The black, wolfish dog was sentenced to death by the Framingham Police Department after tearing into the arm of the boy next door who came over to pet him. Peter Rubin, Longreads, 4 Oct. 2024 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, population 8,500, is the girl next door — reliable, down-to-earth and blessed with a natural beauty that changes little over time. Tracey Teo, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2024 Or Tony Goldwyn, the boy next door who is the most unsuspecting villain. Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 3 Sep. 2024 How has your relationship with that label — and being known as the boy next door — changed over the years? Max Gao, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024 Ferrer plays Lily as a teen, who falls in love with Atlas (Alex Neustaedter), the boy next door, who comes back into Lily's life as an adult. Hedy Phillips, Peoplemag, 12 Aug. 2024 The plot involves a young artist (Scott Mescudi) who falls hard for the girl next door (Jessica Williams), while Kudi’s music and stunning visuals color their love in cosmic shades. Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 2 Apr. 2024 Austin Winter brings warmth and kindness to Laurie, the boy next door who crushes on Jo but gets friend-zoned. Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 20 Jan. 2024 Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa are working on a stage reimagining of the movie, which also starred Mark Ruffalo as the boy next door as well as Andy Serkis as Garner’s boss and Judy Greer as her best friend. K.j. Yossman, Variety, 28 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the boy/girl next door.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near the boy/girl next door

the box

the boy/girl next door

the boys

Cite this Entry

“The boy/girl next door.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20boy%2Fgirl%20next%20door. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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