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.
“You Must Be Here for the Reading,” running through June 20 at North Hollywood’s After Hours Theatre, is part theatrical and dance performance, part tarot reading and part cocktail hour.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
It’s more of an “I’m dressed for a cocktail hour and my partner is dressed for a remote workday” situation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025
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
Out of static came the sweet strains of cocktail hour music from the Empire Room of the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
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.
