speed dating

American  

noun

1. an organized social event in which participants have one-on-one conversations typically limited to less than ten minutes, for the purpose of meeting people they would like to date.

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speed dating British  

noun

1. a method of meeting potential partners in which each participant has only a few minutes to talk to each of his or her dates before being moved on to the next one. At the end of the event, paticipants decide which dates they would like to see again

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Other Word Forms

• speed dater
  noun

Etymology

Origin of speed dating

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

speed dating

From “Coffee With Comrades” and socialist softball to karaoke and speed dating, Joshua Chaffin and Maya Davis look at how fast-growing chapters are trying to turn the “DSA-curious” into active members.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

Singles are trying speed dating, connecting through shared real-world interests and even using spreadsheets to break their dating algorithm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Performance director James Bunce likened the situation to a speed dating session because "every moment counts".

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Some of those startups started in the San Francisco Bay area, where AI dating apps are hosting parties, speed dating, coffee meet-ups and other in-person events to rope people into using their new service.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026

From what she could see, the process looked like speed dating.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan