rub off on

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

rub off on (third-person singular simple present rubs off on, present participle rubbing off on, simple past and past participle rubbed off on)

1. (idiomatic, transitive, of behavior, beliefs, etc.) To be acquired by or transferred to (someone) as a result of regular exposure.

   The hippie way of life seems to have rubbed off on him, as he's a flower power aficionado.

   • 1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 19:

     I had hoped that if I went out with Jackie, then some of that elder-stateswoman dignity would rub off on me, but of course without Phil she didn't have any.

   • 2023 October 11, David Yaffe-Bellany, Matthew Goldstein, J. Edward Moreno, “Caroline Ellison Says She and Sam Bankman-Fried Lied for Years”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Over time, she explained, those beliefs started rubbing off on her.

Translations

(of behavior, etc.) to be acquired by or transferred to (someone)

• German: abfärben (de)