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.
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
The idea that these corporations place profit above health is not just a cocktail hour talking point gleaned from some book review – it is deeply ingrained in the community’s memory.
From Salon • Aug. 20, 2024
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
The empty mall, the airship kegger, the erudite cocktail hour — in theory, you can attend them all.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2023
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.
