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Glite Dictionary
to make friends

to make friends

134 1.0
Begin to be friendly with someone
  • phrasal verb
  • /meɪk frɛndz/
translation icon : hacer amigos
  • After moving to a new city, I was eager to make friends and explore the local community.
  • make friends with people
  • make friends easily
  • hard to make friends

And I just so happened to love making friends, OK?

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Examples

  • Mel, why is it so hard to make friends as we get older?

  • Not having attended school, she had few opportunities to make friends of like mind.

    Academic text (1995)

  • And I just so happened to love making friends, OK?

    Smosh Pit

  • And it's easy to make friends and have great friends there.

  • The next rule is make friends with people who want the best for you.

  • I should try to make friends with him.

    Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

  • I want to make friends.

    Hollywood Ending (2002)

  • Others reported that they found it difficult to make friends, and that caused a sense of loneliness.

    Academic text (2012)

  • "It's such a great way to meet people and make friends," Rachel said.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • So go to those classes and make friends with your classmates and your teachers.

    Zoe Hong

Synonyms

to connect
vsto make friends
572 1.8

Build a friendly relationship with someone by talking or listening

form new social relationships specifically, not just brief contact
to connect with
vsto make friends
236 3.2

To feel close to someone and understood by them

form new social relationships, not only emotional understanding
to befriend
vsto make friends
61 3.0

To become close to someone by helping them

form new social relationships rather than focusing on offering help
to pal
vsto make friends
  • Informal
37 5.3

To become friends with someone and spend time together

form new social relationships beyond one-off warm acts
to connect with people
vsto make friends
16 3.5

Make others feel understood and build a friendly relationship

form new social relationships one-on-one rather than general rapport
to pal up
vsto make friends
  • Informal
8.0

Become friends with someone and spend time with them

form new social relationships rather than only casual starts

Antonyms

to alienate
123 6.7

To make someone feel alone and lose support from others

to disassociate
16 7.0

To end a connection with a person, group, or idea

How Close

to bond
149 2.9
to make friends
134 1.0
to befriend
61 3.0

Surface Forms

make friends infinitive
made friends past
made friends past participle
making friends present participle
makes friends third person singular

Morphology

make + friend

The meaning 'to form new friendships' is directly and compositionally derived from 'make' (to create or cause) plus 'friend(s)' (people with mutual affection). This verb + noun pattern (make + friends/relationships) is a common, cross-linguistically intuitive construction in English, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Make friends comes from the simple idea of 'making' as creating a friendship. When you meet, talk and share with someone, you slowly build a friendship. So to make friends means 'to form new friendships'.