lobbyist
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lobbyist
Explanation
A lobbyist is someone hired by a business or a cause to persuade legislators to support that business or cause. Lobbyists get paid to win favor from politicians. For example, oil companies send lobbyists to Washington to try to make life easier for oil companies. Sometimes they do it by making a great case for their cause, but often it involves fancy dinners and golf outings. If that sounds kind of shady, it is. But remember that women's rights groups and cancer research foundations have lobbyists, too — it's just one way to get your voice heard on the Hill.
Vocabulary lists containing lobbyist
100 Top "SAT" Words
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U.S. Government Lingo
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Vocabulary from President Trump's First Address to Congress
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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.
The nonprofit’s executive director, Tori Barnes, is a former lobbyist for the U.S.
From Salon • May 18, 2026
They hired a lobbyist and started wooing wealthy and powerful people around Nashville for support.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Phone records published recently show multiple calls between Milei and Mauricio Novelli, a lobbyist behind $Libra, on the night of the currency’s launch, suggesting closer coordination than previously acknowledged.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Aaron Cutler, a former House staffer and congressional lobbyist at law firm Hogan Lovells, went as far as suggesting that Republicans could defy historic trends to win the midterms.
From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026
Also in 1870, Victoria Woodhull moved to Washington, DC, and began working as a lobbyist for women’s suffrage.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
