Meanings
- informalActively seeking a romantic encounter or relationship.
Harry (Matthew Cowles) and Tim (Timothy Meyers) are an inseparable pair of macho punks always on the make for an easy sexual score.
1973 November 26, T. E. Kalem, “The Theatre: Savage Mating Dance”, in Time - broadlyinformalActively seeking an opportunity for self-advancement; eager to ingratiate oneself to others in order to secure some advantage.
In a city where everybody was "hustling," everybody, as they phrased it, "on the make," why should anyone take a second glance at Peter Gudge?
1920, Upton Sinclair, chapter 1, in 100%: The Story of a Patriot1 more example
She said that anyone under the age of thirty living in a resort community was on the make somehow: “pimping, dealing, hooking, detoxing, escaping, scamming, or what have you.”
1991, Douglas Coupland, “It Can't Last”, in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 36
Origin
From make (“companion, spouse, mate”), related to match (“counterpart, partner”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
on the make. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20make
“on the make.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20make. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the make,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20make.
Source: on the make on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.