Definition of SCHMOOZE

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Verb

Schmooze (also spelled shmooze) is one of a small, but significant, number of words borrowed from Yiddish that have become relatively common parts of the English language. Other such words include chutzpah, lox,maven,mensch,nebbish,schlep, and schlock. Though classified as a High German language, Yiddish also borrows from the Slavic and Latinate languages as well as from Aramaic and Hebrew. It was the Hebrew shěmu’ōth ("news, rumor") that provided Yiddish with the noun shmues ("talk") and the verb shmuesn ("to talk or chat"). Although originally used in English to indicate simply talking in an informal and warm manner, schmooze has since also taken on the suggestion of discussion for the purposes of gaining something.

Examples of schmooze in a Sentence

Verb People will have time to schmooze during the cocktail hour. spent every spare minute of the conference schmoozing with the industry's power players Noun had to master the art of the schmooze if she wanted to get ahead in the business

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb This week Mr Putin will schmooze dozens of African leaders in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. — The Economist, "The Kremlin is encouraging Guinea’s president to ditch the constitution," 21 Oct. 2019 In New Hampshire, Democrats are schmoozing with local officials, chatting up local press, and making their best pitches in the marketplace of ideas in a place where discerning voters can lift a candidate out of obscurity to national prominence. — James Pindell, BostonGlobe.com, "For many presidential candidates, Election Day might as well be next week," 21 Aug. 2019 Plus, Gene was an expert at schmoozing investigators and would-be investigators. — Jack Mccallum, SI.com, "Remembering Action Park, America's Most Dangerous, Daring Water Park," 1 July 2019 Bonnie Monteleone—a North Carolina artist who creates Hokusai waves out of ocean plastic—is schmoozing with Ellen Jackowski of HP, which is incorporating millions of Haiti’s plastic bottles into ink cartridges. — Rowan Jacobsen, Outside Online, "An Ocean Plastics Field Trip for Corporate Executives," 8 Aug. 2019 Today’s Mets are run by a novice general manager, Brodie Van Wagenen, 45, who likes to schmooze with fans on social media and in the stands. — New York Times, "What Brodie Van Wagenen Can Learn From the Architect of the ’69 Mets," 22 July 2019 Some of Swift’s fans, known as Swifties, had nothing good to say about Harris schmoozing with Braun and enjoying his hospitality and fundraising efforts. — Martha Ross, The Mercury News, "Kamala Harris angers Taylor Swift fans with Scooter Braun fundraiser," 22 July 2019 Inside the 39-seat family-run eatery, chef Rob Menendez slaps another frita on the flattop plancha while his sister, Renesi Thompson, works the register and father Bob schmoozes with regulars. — Phillip Valys, sun-sentinel.com, "SummerTimeOut: Behold the juicy Cuban hamburger at It’s a Cubano B in Pompano Beach," 25 June 2019 Later, as a learning linguist, the 22-year-old made plans to schmooze with the boss. — Candace Buckner, courant.com, "They have the name. They wear the number. Yet NBA draft hopefuls aren’t their fathers.," 4 June 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun In the hours before the debate, many reporters file stories, eat snacks and schmooze with pollsters and political operatives. — Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, "The dirty little secret about covering a debate," 15 Oct. 2019 Perched high above Sunset Boulevard, this is where Hollywood power players schmooze over Southsides. — Sarah Bray, Town & Country, "The Best Bars and Clubs to Meet a Rich Husband," 3 Dec. 2014 But his desire to practice instead of schmooze with sponsors won’t hurt in dispelling the perception of some that football isn’t all that important to Rosen. — Kent Somers, azcentral, "Why Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen didn't practice Thursday," 17 May 2018 Don't be afraid to cultivate relationships with inspirational people, using your natural finesse to network and schmooze. — Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, "What May's Libra Horoscope Means for You," 26 Apr. 2018 Most are already technical whizzes and strong musicians who then are taught as fellows how to converse with the public, meld into an ensemble, speak to journalists, generate interesting programming ideas, schmooze with donors and teach. — Sean Erwin, miamiherald, "New World Symphony: Classical music and a genius for community building | Miami Herald," 25 Apr. 2018 The showcase is also a great chance for the basketball industry to network and schmooze, even more so than summer league in Las Vegas. — Jeremy Woo, SI.com, "The G-League Showcase: 25 Early Observations from the Annual Event," 12 Jan. 2018 And because Keith loves the spotlight, expect him to schmooze and wade through the crowd, ready for any photo op that might arise. — Kevin Warwick, Chicago Reader, "Hip-hop alien Kool Keith again invades Logan Arcade for his annual X-mas extravaganza," 15 Dec. 2017 On Sunday afternoon at the Toronto International Film Festival, V.F. contributor Jordan Hoffman caught up with Nolan, who conducted a Q&A after a special IMAX screening of Dunkirk—and, in the spirit of the season, also made time to schmooze. — Rebecca Keegan, HWD, "The First Round of Emmys Gave HBO 19 Things to Smile About," 11 Sep. 2017

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

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Last Updated

19 Nov 2019

Cite this Entry

“Schmooze.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schmooze?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=s&file=schmoo01. Accessed 16 December 2019.