I'll throw down on this one. Let's say that anyone who is dating is looking for "Mr. Right", or "Ms. Right". But they haven't found them yet. The person they date while waiting may be referred to as "Mr. Right Now" (or "Ms. Right Now").
Answer from LindaCamillo on Stack ExchangeI'll throw down on this one. Let's say that anyone who is dating is looking for "Mr. Right", or "Ms. Right". But they haven't found them yet. The person they date while waiting may be referred to as "Mr. Right Now" (or "Ms. Right Now").
I might suggest that you are friends with (or dating) that person by default:
a selection made usually automatically or without active consideration due to lack of a viable alternative
I'll also point out that Urban Dictionary includes the formulation "default friend", which may be understood by some listeners: it's grammatically sound, although sounds somewhat unusual to my ear. The formulation "boyfriend/girlfriend by default" or "we are friends by default" is likely to be more widely and readily understood.
hanger-on
a person who associates with another person or a group in a sycophantic manner or for the purpose of gaining some personal advantage.
Longman Dictionary defines it as
Someone who spends a lot of time with a rich or important person, because they hope to get some advantage for themselves: He was surrounded by a crowd of friends and hangers-on.
From Oxford Dictionaries
But he also set an undisputed world record, for the number of aides, acolytes, spongers and hangers-on that he assembled in one place at the same time.
Synonyms: follower, flunkey, toady, sycophant, parasite, leech; minion, lackey, acolyte; Informal: sponger, freeloader
I think the term opportunist , though not specific to friendship, well describes the kind of person you are referring to:
- One who takes advantage of any opportunity to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.(AHD)
also the expression fair-weather friend can suggest the idea of a person who uses friendship just as a way to to have a personal return without real commitment for others:
- Fig. someone who is your friend only when things are pleasant or going well for you. Bill stayed for lunch but he wouldn't help me with the yard work. He's just a fair-weather friend. A fair-weather friend isn't much help in an emergency. (AHD)
I'm looking for a word to describe the person you prefer to spend most of your time with who could be anyone from a relative to a lover. They’re not just a “companion”, they’re your “chosen companion” among many, if that makes sense. You have other people in your life that you care about, but you always choose to be with this person over everyone else, you always find yourself gravitating or coming back to them, specifically when "spending leisure time together with someone, doing any kind of activity", they're always your No.1 choice.
What can we call that person?
Note: this was also posted on r/whatstheword
Simpatico: "Being on the same wavelength," M-W
The word captures the idea of two or more people who are in tune with each other.
It is a bit old fashioned, but bosom buddies fits.
One's close or closest friend; a friend one holds dear to one's heart.
We grew up right next door to each other, so we have been bosom buddies since we were kids.
The Free Dictionary by FARLEX
A more modern (and informal) phrase would be brother from another mother.
These expressions don't refer to actual half-siblings. A brother from another mother is a friend that you feel as close to as if they were your actual brother.
Quora
Long time lurker first time poster. Love this sub and its culture.
I (31M) have recently ended a primary partnership with a girlfriend (29F). It’s on good terms and we still want to be in each other’s lives. However, we find ourselves using the term “friends” and agree that it doesn’t do a good job at capturing what we actually are to each other.
Mainly because “just friends” feels like something lesser, like we’ve slid backwards, rather than moving forward and into something that is fundamentally distinct from – and in many ways better than – either a friendship or a primary partnership.
The relationship we have is clearly not comparable to what we have with other regular “friends”, so it feels confusing and inaccurate to label it as such.
I guess perhaps this is how the pretty cringey term “conscious uncoupling” came about? 😂
Anyway, it’s no crisis. But any help/thoughts/ideas would be greatly appreciated!
OP's brother is exhibiting extrafamilial orientation - normal behaviour for young adults of both sexes as they approach the age at which they will leave the parental "nest".
When people refer to someone as being social (at least in the U.S.), they rarely mean that the person is spending time with his or her family. "Oh, he's so social." means that he is in the habit of spending time away from home (and family) and with friends. I think if it's noticeable enough to be commented on, it's probably not a compliment.
(I would say, however, this seems to be normal behavior for teenagers. [I have two.])
"Clingy" or "needy" (as noted previously) work. I would use "clinging" as a slightly more formal construction. English offers a wide range of metaphors for this. A "limpet" comes to mind, although one could be much more pejorative and colorful.
In British English there's a verb to tag along, which means to join a group that's going somewhere. Sometimes this is used to denote an effort that is unwelcomed by said group. It's defined as such in the Cambridge Dictionary:
tag along: to go somewhere with a person or group, usually when they have not asked you to go with them: I don't know her, she just tagged along with us
However, this term has started to be used as a noun, i.e. an unwelcome individual is a tag-along.
I can't find a reference book to back up my claim that the term's used in this way, but if you do a search on Google for 'he's a tag along', you'll find many examples in literature. Here's a good one from The Facts of Life (2010) by Graham Joyce:
'He's nice enough but as far as I can see he's got no work either. He's a tag-along, isn't he? Well he's decent enough, but you can't tag along with a tag-along.
A social person is perfectly correct. Or here is a brief list of synonyms you could also use.
- (noun) a social person
- (adj) social
- (noun) a socialite
- (noun) an extrovert
- (adj) extroverted
- (noun) a social butterfly
- (adj.) outgoing
I would call this person an extrovert. But you can definitely use social person as well.
I ask because that's how I feel about pretty much all of my friendships and I'm wondering if there's some oddly-specific foreign word I could use to describe it.