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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

that guy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈðæt ˈɡaɪ/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

  1. (derogatory, in the negative, informal, often) The stereotypical badly-behaved or stupid person. Often in the phrases "Don't be that guy" or "I don't want to be that guy."
    • Rebekah groaned, covered her eyes with an arm and said: “Aw, I don’t want to be that guy.” 2008, June 24, Mark LaFlamme, “Superhero Stuff”, Sun Journal, page B1
    • Thankfully though in Canada, an advertising campaign called “Don’t be that guy” has been making rounds across the net. In this campaign, the words are used as such: 2014, Wan Stephanie Aishah, The V, page 20:
    • “Nobody wants to be that guy that’s on SportsCenter that’s arrested,” Giants defensive tackle Keith Hamilton said. “I definitely don’t want to be that guy.” 2001, January 23, Bob McGinn, “Different strokes”, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, page 3C
    • I’m playing it in French, because I’m that guy, though it’s a shame the voice-acting is only in American English. 2023 June 14, Keza MacDonald, “After a decade of PlayStation dominance, the next year of games belongs to Xbox”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2023:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
those guys Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

don't be that guy