hazing
- subjection to harassment or ridicule.
Origin of hazing
haze1
- an aggregation in the atmosphere of very fine, widely dispersed, solid or liquid particles, or both, giving the air an opalescent appearance that subdues colors.
- vagueness or obscurity, as of the mind or perception; confused or vague thoughts, feelings, etc.: The victims were still in a haze and couldn't describe the accident.
- to make or become hazy.
Origin of haze1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comhaze2
- to subject (freshmen, newcomers, etc.) to abusive or humiliating tricks and ridicule.
- Chiefly Nautical. to harass with unnecessary or disagreeable tasks.
Origin of haze2
Related Words
blinddimdarkenconfusedisguisemaskmuddyovershadowcovercamouflageshroudbelieblureclipsemisrepresentveilcloudoutweighdwarfdominateExamples from the Web for hazing
Contemporary Examples
She said it all in a vague way, that it was a hazing incident gone awry.
There are no hazing rituals, no violent rites of getting jumped in.
It was one of the hazing challenges allegedly put to Holt by her fellow sorority members.
According to his research, as of 2013, Nuwer tallies 104 deaths linked to hazing since 1970.
The bullies at Mariana push the boundaries of bad behaviour beyond the typical adolescent hijinks and hazing.
Must-Read Fiction: ‘The Watch,’ ‘Alys, Always,’ ‘The Year of the Gadfly’Cameron Martin, Lucy Scholes, Amber Dermont
June 19, 2012
Historical Examples
There was not one of the hazing party who had entirely escaped injury.
Marjorie Dean, College SophomorePauline Lester
The crew have been hazing the officers now for two hours, and have had the best of it most of the time.
Down the RhineOliver Optic
"It is clear enough that they are hazing me," said Captain Shuffles, sadly.
Down the RhineOliver Optic
Private Hal Overton had meant to take all his hazing good-humoredly.
Uncle Sam's Boys in the RanksH. Irving Hancock
It intimated a bit of hazing, but hazing of a quality that the faculty could only wink at.
Ruth Fielding At CollegeAlice B. Emerson
haze1
- meteorol
- reduced visibility in the air as a result of condensed water vapour, dust, etc, in the atmosphere
- the moisture or dust causing this
- obscurity of perception, feeling, etc
- (when intr, often foll by over) to make or become hazy
Word Origin
haze2
- mainly US and Canadian to subject (fellow students) to ridicule or abuse
- nautical to harass with humiliating tasks
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for hazing
n.
brutal initiation of college freshmen, 1848, said to be a Harvard word ("This word is used at Harvard College, to express the treatment which Freshmen sometimes receive from the higher classes, and especially from the Sophomores" -- "Collection of College Words and Customs," Boston, 1851); see haze (v.).
haze
n.
1706, probably a back-formation of hazy. Sense of "confusion, vagueness" is 1797. The English differentiation of haze, mist, fog (and other dialectal words) is unmatched in other tongues, where the same word generally covers all three and often "cloud" as well, and this may be seen as an effect of the English climate on the language.
haze
v.
"subject to cruel horseplay," 1850, American English student slang, from earlier nautical sense of "punish by keeping at unpleasant and unnecessary hard work" (1840), perhaps from hawze "terrify, frighten, confound" (1670s), from Middle French haser "irritate, annoy" (mid-15c.), of unknown origin. Related: Hazed; hazing.
All hands were called to "come up and see it rain," and kept on deck hour after hour in a drenching rain, standing round the deck so far apart as to prevent our talking with one another, with our tarpaulins and oil-cloth jackets on, picking old rope to pieces or laying up gaskets and robands. This was often done, too, when we were lying in port with two anchors down, and no necessity for more than one man on deck as a look-out. This is what is called "hazing" a crew, and "working their old iron up." [Dana, "Two Years before the Mast," 1842]
Idioms and Phrases with hazing
haze
see in a fog (haze).