rapport
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rapport
First recorded in 1530–40; from French, derivative of rapporter “to bring back, report,” equivalent to r(e)- re- + apporter ( Old French aporter, from Latin apportāre, equivalent to ap- ap- 1 + portāre “to carry”; see port 5)
Explanation
Rapport is a good sense of understanding and trust. If you have good rapport with your neighbors, they won't mind if you kick your ball onto their property every now and then. If you have rapport with someone, you two communicate with trust and sympathy. The word is often used to mean good interaction between people in different positions or roles such as parent and teacher, teacher and student, doctor and patient, supervisor and worker, or speaker and audience. It is always important to establish rapport with people you come into contact with regularly. Pronounce this borrowed word from the French ra-POOR.
Vocabulary lists containing rapport
Grade 10, List 3
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The Hunger Games
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The Things They Carried
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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.
To build rapport, advisers might start a conversation by asking the client, “What’s your comfort level with this topic?” or “Do you understand what I mean when I say ‘bond ladder’ or ‘reinvestment risk?’
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
Is it friendship, though, or a mutually useful rapport?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
It’s their rapport that explains how the work gets done in the pressure cooker Johnson alluded to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
“For some reason that no one can figure out, I really, really like you,” Johnson’s Trump told Mamdani, poking fun at the unlikely rapport between the president and the democratic socialist mayor.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
Some books on salesmanship recommend that persuaders try to mirror the posture or talking styles of their clients in order to establish rapport.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
