name-drop
Americanverb (used without object)
Etymology
Origin of name-drop
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
See Examples For:
One of her dogs is named Crüe, as in Mötley Crüe; she will name-drop the 2000s rock band Nickelback in one interview and country stalwart Ronnie Milsap in the next.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
As she buzzes through their home, Bertha and her decorator blithely name-drop the provenance of chandeliers, rugs and paintings.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025
Of course, being a journalist, Avlon couldn’t help but name-drop other journalists he’d been reading.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2024
This special is a more modest effort, and her personal anecdotes can’t help but name-drop now that she’s better known.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2024
That’s the career advice a friend — a celebrity whom he doesn’t want to name-drop — gave him over dinner back in 1978.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2024
Xi reportedly name-dropped his friend Putin to Trump last week, when the two leaders walked through Zhongnanhai, which is normally off-limits to foreign visitors, joking about how Putin had visited Beijing's political sanctuary before.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
But the comic, who routinely jokes about her own cosmetic work, didn’t spare herself as she name-dropped nominated films, saying, “Just like Frankenstein, I’ve been pieced together by an unlicensed European surgeon.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
A fan of Drake, like many other perpetually online teenage boys at the time, Nathan found The Weeknd in 2011 when the rapper dropped a freestyle and name-dropped him.
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2025
In a session with media Friday, Curtin name-dropped Obafemi Martins, who subbed on at the hour mark of the Open Cup match and had the game-sealing goal in the 114th minute.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
He name-dropped William Mulholland, the Los Angeles civil engineer whose creation of a massive aqueduct that took water from the Owens Valley to the San Fernando Valley forever changed the state’s water policies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2023
The name-dropping is relentless and if, like me, you have an insatiable appetite for hoovering them up, this volume will not disappoint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
A few years ago Tianna, who is black, also began noticing men name-dropping black feminists they had read during conversation.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2025
I found the clinging to celebrity and the name-dropping uncomfortable and I found myself embarrassed for my father, which is a terrible feeling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
The name-dropping may well continue when cross-examination continues Friday.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
I can’t mention anything about this town without Ella name-dropping someone she knows.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
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.
