Other Words from fraternize

fraternization \ ˌfra-tər-nə-ˈzā-shən

\ noun

fraternizer \ ˈfra-tər-ˌnī-zər

\ noun

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.

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 on the Web Its members came together to celebrate canoeing, but also to fraternize at oyster roasts, dances and musicales. — Washington Post, "A new book paddles through the history of canoeing in Washington," 16 Nov. 2020 Players may not socialize or fraternize with opponents before, during or after games. — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, "Why MLB’s stringent COVID-19 guidelines will make the return to baseball anything but normal," 25 June 2020 The directive ordered Taliban fighters not to fight but also not to fraternize with Afghan national security forces. — Kathy Gannon, The Christian Science Monitor, "In Afghanistan, promises of a peaceful reprieve in honor of Eid," 24 May 2020 As the tribes start fraternizing, Kellee Kim and Missy Byrd talk for the first time on screen, and an issue comes up about alleged inappropriate touching by contestant Dan Spilo, which Kim had addressed with him in the first episode of the season. — NBC News, "Female 'survivor' contestant accuses male player of inappropriate touching. She is voted off.," 14 Nov. 2019 Mike fraternizes with a taxi driver (a radiant Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad) over sweeping vistas and music-making until the Taliban enters to, understandably, probe the foreigner’s intentions. — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, "Review: ‘Jirga’ asks if atonement for war sins is possible," 1 Aug. 2019 Bunnies, who lived in dorms on the property, could not fraternize with the guests and guests could not touch them. — Brian E. Clark, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "From Lake Geneva Playboy Club to Marcus resort, Grand Geneva celebrates 25 years with special deals and events," 21 June 2019 This was, in fact, the first time that a young, semiunderground, and, by all accounts, cool designer has ever stepped in front of a Bravo TV camera to fraternize with the Housewives. — Brooke Bobb, Vogue, "The Real Housewives of New York City," 21 Mar. 2019 Last month’s unprecedented cease-fire by both sides had offered a rare glimpse of peace for Afghans during which militants fraternized with members of the security forces. — Rahim Faiez, The Seattle Times, "Afghan officials: IS bomber kills 20, Taliban kill 9 police," 17 July 2018

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.