lobbyist

noun

lob·​by·​ist ˈlä-bē-ist 

plural lobbyists

: one who conducts activities aimed at influencing or swaying public officials and especially members of a legislative body on legislation : a person engaged in lobbying public officials

The new rule says that if you were a registered lobbyist in the past two years, you can't work for the administration on any issue you touched. After you leave government, you can't lobby the administration at all.

—Jacob Weisberg

Because so many lobbyists have past experience on Capitol Hill, they usually have personal ties both to members of congress and to their key staffers, who vet and prioritize the earmark requests.

—Ken Silverstein

Examples of lobbyist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ventry stepped away from the Washington Reporter after registering as a Qatari lobbyist, reportedly to avoid any appearance of conflicts of interest. —Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 17 May 2025

The law and the reforms that followed it over the years never added the solicitation for lobbyist contributions to municipal campaigns. —Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 17 May 2025

Its members will include lobbyists, tech industry bigwigs and a sprinkling of White House officials, such as David Sacks, who is Trump’s crypto czar. —Eric Lipton, New York Times, 14 May 2025

Scott Maxwell: The idea of Pam Bondi – who was dogged by ethics scandals in Florida and worked as a lobbyist for Qatar – serving as an ethics advisor on whether Donald Trump should accept a free plane from Qatar is ridiculous. —Scott Maxwell, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lobbyist

• hobbyist