Word.ws English Dictionary

boyo

/ˈbɔɪ.əʊ/US/ˈbɔɪ.oʊ/

boyo noun: a boy or lad.

Noun

boyo (plural boyos)

  1. (Ireland) A boy or lad.
  2. (derogatory, sometimes) A stereotypically Welsh form of address for a man, usually younger than the speaker.
    • “Don't be daft, boyo. First chance I get, and I'm skipping!”1968 February 10, Mervyn Haisman, “The Web of Fear (2)”, in Doctor Who, season 5, episode 24, spoken by Driver Evans (Derek Pollitt), production code QQ
    • “Can’t get onboard the boat,” Dai finished for me. “Bloody typical, it is, boyo.”1980, Tristan Jones, “Down the Old Kent Road”, in Adrift, Sheridan House, Inc, published 1992, →ISBN, page 73

Examples of boyo in a sentence

  • “What brings you around, boyo?” Deane asked, offering Case a narrow bonbon wrapped in blue-and-white checked paper.1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 13:
  • ‘This, er, initiator of polonium and lithium, would it be used in an anti-personnel bomb?’ he asked. ‘Oh yes, you could say so, boyo,’ replied the Welshman.1984, Frederick Forsyth, The Fourth Protocol, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 301:
  • Mr Swain, the mortuary attendant, calls me boyo, especially during the rugby season when Wales lose badly.1995, Peter Ho Davies, “The Ugliest House in the World”, in The Ugliest House in the World: Stories, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published...
  • “You’re crazy boyo!” Taffy gaped at his shipmate’s rosy cheeks, their hugh brightened by the Canadian blasts.2006, Francis Kerr Young, Hang on a Second!, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 210:

Forms of boyo

pluralboyos

Origin of boyo

From boy + -o.

Questions about boyo

What does boyo mean?
Boyo means a boy or lad.
How do you use boyo in a sentence?
“What brings you around, boyo?” Deane asked, offering Case a narrow bonbon wrapped in blue-and-white checked paper.
What part of speech is boyo?
Boyo is a noun.
How do you pronounce boyo?
Boyo is pronounced /ˈbɔɪ.əʊ/ (UK).
What is the plural of boyo?
The plural of boyo is boyos.

Words near boyo in the dictionary

  1. Boynes
  2. boyness
  3. Boynton
  4. Boynton Beach
  5. Boyntons
  6. boyo
  7. boyology
  8. Boyoma Falls
  9. boyos
  10. boypreggers
  11. boyproof

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: boyo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-boyo.wav.

Cite this entry: “boyo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/boyo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.