babbitt

[ bab-it ]

noun
  1. a bearing or lining of Babbitt metal.

adjective
  1. pertaining to or made of Babbitt metal.

verb (used with object)
  1. to line, face, or furnish with Babbitt metal.

Origin of babbitt

1
First recorded in 1900–05; short for Babbitt metal

Words Nearby babbitt

Other definitions for Babbitt (2 of 2)

Babbitt
[ bab-it ]

noun
  1. Irving, 1865–1933, U.S. educator and critic.

  2. Milton Byron, 1916–2011, U.S. composer.

  1. (italics) a novel (1922) by Sinclair Lewis.

  2. (often lowercase) a self-satisfied person who conforms readily to conventional, middle-class ideas and ideals, especially of business and material success; Philistine: from the main character in the novel by Sinclair Lewis.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use babbitt in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for babbitt (1 of 2)

babbitt

/ (ˈbæbɪt) /


verb
  1. (tr) to line (a bearing) or face (a surface) with Babbitt metal or a similar soft alloy

British Dictionary definitions for Babbitt (2 of 2)

Babbitt

/ (ˈbæbɪt) /


noun
  1. US derogatory a narrow-minded and complacent member of the middle class

Origin of Babbitt

2
C20: after George Babbitt, central character in the novel Babbitt (1922) by Sinclair Lewis

Derived forms of Babbitt

  • Babbittry, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Babbitt

Babbitt

(1922) A novel by Sinclair Lewis. The title character, an American real estate agent in a small city, is portrayed as a crass, loud, overoptimistic boor who thinks only about money and speaks in clichés, such as “You've gotta have pep, by golly!”

Notes for Babbitt

By extension, a “Babbitt” is a narrow-minded, materialistic businessman.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.