Other forms: boyfriends
A boyfriend is the man or boy somebody is romantically involved with. Her boyfriend, my boyfriend, they were boyfriend and girlfriend at school.
It is one word and it is the standard term for an unmarried romantic partner. Like girlfriend, it sits oddly on older people, and partner is what most adults use once things are settled — partner also has the advantage of saying nothing about gender or marital status, which is why forms use it. Note ex-boyfriend, and that unlike girlfriend, boyfriend has no innocent friendship sense in any dialect: a man's boyfriend is always a partner.
1nounboyfriendThe man or boy somebody is romantically involved with.
“Her boyfriend picked her up at the station.”
boyfriend is a romantic partner.
From boy + friend.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA