hail-fellow-well-met

adjective

genial and familiar, esp in an offensive or ingratiating waya hail-fellow-well-met slap on the back

Nearby words

hail, hail columbia, hail from, hail mary, hail-fellow, hail-fellow-well-met, haile selassie, haile selassie i, hailey and hailey disease, hailing distance, hailsham of st marylebone

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

Examples from the Web for hail-fellow-well-met

Cf. the use of the phrase "to be hail-fellow-well-met with anyone."
Narcissus|Unknown
When at college he was a hail-fellow-well-met, a leader in athletics and in matters upon which faculties frown.
Graustark|George Barr McCutcheon
This man is hail-fellow-well-met with young Montjoy; a visitor in his home and is spending money like water.
Sons and Fathers|Harry Stillwell Edwards
And at first he sings small, and is hail-fellow-well-met with Sheamus—that's James of the Glens, my chieftain's agent.
Kidnapped|Robert Louis Stevenson

There had been nothing snobbish about Tim; he was hail-fellow-well-met with every voter east of Broadway.
Much Ado About Peter|Jean Webster

Culture definitions for hail-fellow-well-met

hail-fellow-well-met

A term describing a person who is superficially friendly and is always trying to gain friends. Such a person may also be referred to as a “glad-hander.”