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.
Cepeda urged "composure and calm" following these incidents, during which demonstrators burned US flags in reference to De la Espriella's rapport with the Trump administration.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Though Greenspan didn’t know Gerald Ford well, the two men developed a rapport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Starmer also managed to forge an unlikely rapport with Trump, though that didn’t spare the country from being hit by U.S. tariffs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
He also threw a party for the “Mike & Molly” cast to build rapport because he believed when everyone liked each other, it showed onscreen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
He had an easy rapport with everyone at the firm.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
