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Synonyms

rub off

British  

verb

  1. to remove or be removed by rubbing

  2. (intr; often foll by on or onto) to have an effect through close association or contact, esp so as to make similar

    her crude manners have rubbed off on you
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a resulting effect on something else; consequences

    a positive rub-off
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Has my gift somehow rubbed off on them?

From Literature

Or is Mom somehow starting to rub off on me?

From Literature

I shake his palm, the dirt on both our gloves rubbing off and falling in a shower.

From Literature

Uzzaman wants to instill the fundamentals, but he said the students’ focus may have rubbed off on him.

From The Wall Street Journal

Although he is nine years my elder, his infectious, childlike enthusiasm about making dreams come true was rubbing off on me.

From Los Angeles Times

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.