schmooze

English

WOTD – 19 July 2008

Alternative forms

schmoose, schmooz, shmooze

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish שמועס (shmues), from Hebrew שְׁמוּעוֹת (sh'mu'ót), plural of שְׁמוּעָה (sh'mu'á, “report, piece of news, rumor”). Compare also German Low German smusen (“to flatter, coax, caress”), German schmusen (“to cuddle, smooch, canoodle”).

Pronunciation

enPR: shmo͞oz, IPA^(key): /ʃmuːz/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -uːz

Verb

schmooze (third-person singular simple present schmoozes, present participle schmoozing, simple past and past participle schmoozed)

To talk casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.
I wish he could do his job as well as he schmoozes with the boss.
- 1996, Mark Brown, M.D., Emergency!, page xiii:
  Until about 4 A.M. there were almost no patients to be seen, and I enjoyed the chance to schmooze with my brother.
- 2013 May 9, Norm Ornstein, “Obama's Hill Slump Has Nothing to Do With a Failure of Leadership”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:
  But the issue goes beyond that, to a willful ignorance of history. No one schmoozed more or better with legislators in both parties than Clinton.
- 2016 March 11, Dave Hill, “London mayor race: Goldsmith, Khan and co schmooze the business suits”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:
  On Thursday he was back in the capitalist hot hub, this time in the company of Goldsmith for a hustings at the home of KPMG organised by the LCCI and other business groups. Who would schmooze the suits to best effect?

Derived terms

Noun

schmooze (plural schmoozes)

A casual conversation, especially one held in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.