fraternize

verb frat·er·nize \ ˈfra-tər-ˌnīz \

Updated on: 24 Mar 2018

fraternized; fraternizing

intransitive verb

1 : to associate or mingle as brothers or on fraternal terms

fraternized with the other guests at the party

2 a : to associate on close terms with members of a hostile group especially when contrary to military orders

were ordered not to fraternize with the enemy

b : to be friendly or amiable

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fraternization

play \ˌfra-tər-nə-ˈzā-shən\ noun

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fraternizer

play \ˈfra-tər-ˌnī-zər\ noun

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Examples of fraternize in a Sentence

It is usually unwise to fraternize with your employees.
don't fraternize just with people of the same race, religion, or social background

Recent Examples of fraternize from the Web

As might be expected when fraternizing with a professional athlete, the friendly beers soon became a chugging competition, which Brady dominated at, chugging his entire pint glass in one gulp long before Colbert could finish his.

— cady lang, Time, "Tom Brady Finally Found the Strength Within to Eat His First Strawberry," 13 Mar. 2018
For the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the journey north from England entailed the standard official royal visit fare: fraternizing with fellow royals, visiting local institutions, and posing for photo opportunity after photo opportunity.

— halie lesavage, Glamour, "Every Single Outfit Kate Middleton Wore on Her Royal Tour of Scandinavia," 2 Feb. 2018
Both of their bosses, however, disapproved of fraternizing with the enemy.

— conor orr, SI.com, "Belichick and Saban: The Stories Behind Football’s Most Powerful Friendship," 18 Jan. 2018
There is no current policy banning legislators from fraternizing with interns.

— kelsey ryan, kansascity, "Kansas Legislature doesn't require sex harassment training | The Kansas City Star," 16 Jan. 2018
In addition to their close military ties, representatives from these companies fraternized with industry executives and local police forces.

— Longreads, "How Lobbyists Normalized the Use of Chemical Weapons on American Civilians," 24 Nov. 2014
And the players would go up there, fraternize with the owners and customers, and Buddy Parker did not want that.

— dave birkett, Detroit Free Press, "When the walls talked: Inside Detroit Lions' improbable 1957 title run," 8 Sep. 2017
What were such strident defenders of America, Trump and Keith both, doing fraternizing with a regime that has been accused of supporting the 9/11 attackers?

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Toby Keith in Trump’s America," 6 Oct. 2017
Soldiers, who thought the February Revolution meant the end of the war, mutinied against their brutal officers, defecting and fraternizing with German troops, wandering back to the cities to find work.

— david sessions, New Republic, "The Radical Hopes of the Russian Revolution," 20 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fraternize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Both fraternize and fraternal (meaning "of, relating to, or involving brothers") come to us, by way of Medieval Latin, from Latin frater, meaning "brother." Other frater descendants in English include friar, fraternity, and confraternity ("a society devoted especially to a religious or charitable cause"). Even brother itself shares a relationship with frater. These days, although fraternize can still refer to a brotherly association or simple friendliness, it often occurs in contexts, such as fraternizing with the enemy, implying friendliness toward someone who would be better avoided.