cocktail hour
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of cocktail hour
First recorded in 1925–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To kill some time before cocktail hour, I visited the free Richelieu Library, where I joined other tourists peering into the Labrouste Room, canopied with a Byzantine-inspired nine-dome ceiling.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026
I arrived at Gustavino’s, the tony East Side venue, midway through the 6 p.m. cocktail hour.
From Slate • Mar. 3, 2025
Vincent met Brian Kaspar at a cocktail hour for high-yield fundraisers.
From Salon • Feb. 19, 2025
Only the event’s stacked red carpet is watchable — the gala’s cocktail hour and dinner are notoriously private events.
From Seattle Times • May 5, 2024
At seven o’clock on a cool November night, guests will arrive at the Robert E. Lee Hotel bar for the cocktail hour.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
