mooch

American  

[mooch] / mutʃ /

Or mouch

verb (used with object)

1. to borrow (a small item or amount) without intending to return or repay it.

2. to get or take without paying or at another's expense; sponge.

   He always mooches cigarettes.

3. to beg.

4. to steal.

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verb (used without object)

1. to skulk or sneak.

2. to loiter or wander about.

noun

1. Also moocher. a person who mooches.

mooch British  

/ muːtʃ /

verb

1. to loiter or walk aimlessly

2. (intr) to behave in an apathetic way

3. (intr) to sneak or lurk; skulk

4. (tr) to cadge

5. (tr) to steal

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Other Word Forms

• moocher noun

Etymology

Origin of mooch

1425–75; late Middle English, apparently variant of Middle English michen < Old French muchier to skulk, hide

Explanation

To mooch is to take advantage of other people's generosity without giving anything in return. If you constantly mooch rides from your friend, she's going to get tired of agreeing to drive you around. When you mooch food from your neighbors — showing up every night at dinnertime, or appearing uninvited at their family barbecues — you help yourself to free meals. A person in the habit of doing this is also called a mooch. The word's original definition, "pretend poverty," might stem from the Middle English word mucchen, "to be stingy," or literally, "to keep coins in one's nightcap."

Example Sentences

While other dogs might be content to mooch off kitchen droppings, Riley prefers to eat from her own plate of human food.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2025

And then I realized that he presumably never paid for them down the line; even if his intentions were good, that made him a mooch, a behavior I have never admired at all.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 8, 2022

My husband is wavering, but I think it's totally unnecessary and I don't want to spend my vacation feeling like a mooch.

From Washington Post • Apr. 9, 2022

Like all viruses, they take over cells and force them to churn out other copies of themselves, the worst kind of mooch you can imagine.

From Salon • Nov. 22, 2021

Dotty O’Neill sent a note to your house and said you didn’t come back to school after lunch, that you went on the mooch with Paddy Clohessy.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt