hobnob

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 12, 2026 is: hobnob • \HAHB-nahb\  • verb To hobnob is to socialize with others, especially with people of high social status. // A great deal can be learned about the entertainment industry by hobnobbing with folks at film festivals. See the entry > Examples: “My whole attitude has been—because all I care about is the music—I don’t need to make the scene. I don’t need to hobnob with the executives because I see them all the rest of the year.” — Jem Aswad, quoted in Variety, 14 Apr. 2026 Did you know? In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Sir Toby Belch warns Viola that Sir Andrew wants to duel, telling her “‘Hob, nob’ is his word” and then adding the gloss “give’t or take’t.” In today’s English, he might have said “take it or leave it.” Sir Toby’s hob, nob is an alteration of hab nab (“hit or miss,” “however things may turn out”), itself likely a shortening of the Middle English phrase habbe or nabbe (“whether I have or don’t have”). After Shakespeare’s day, hob-nob and hob or nob were used adverbially to mean “randomly.” And to drink hobnob, or hob or nob, was to take turns with one’s drinking buddies toasting each other’s health. Later, hobnob (as well as hob or nob, hob-a-nob, etc.) was verbified to mean “to drink socially” and then, dropping the booze, “to spend time with someone in a friendly way.” Today hobnob is used especially in situations where someone is chatting up someone famous or important, as in “hobnobbing with celebs.”