hobnob
Americanverb (used without object)
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to associate on very friendly terms (usually followed bywith ).
She often hobnobs with royalty.
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Archaic. to drink together.
noun
verb
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to socialize or talk informally
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obsolete to drink (with)
Etymology
Origin of hobnob
First recorded in 1825–30 in the sense “hit or miss; at random”; from the phrase hab or nab literally, “have or have not,” from Middle English habbe or nabbe, Old English habban “to have” + nabbn “not to have” (from ne “not” + habban “to have”)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the time, Epstein was a money manager and jet-setting financier who, with his girlfriend Maxwell, was hobnobbing with the world's wealthiest from Buckingham Palace to Palm Beach and collecting powerful friends along the way.
From BBC
“Will this be a social excursion, Duane? Will we be hobnobbing?”
From Literature
“Had I shared this encounter with my mother, she likely would have asked me if deception was something I practiced whenever I hobnobbed with the Gettys,” Newsom said in the book.
From Los Angeles Times
This is where India's rich and powerful have hobnobbed for years, building social capital over cigars or squash and brokering business deals during golf sessions.
From BBC
Bankman-Fried was there too, hobnobbing with world leaders and living in the Bahamas.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
