rub off on

verb

To be acquired by or transferred to (someone) as a result of regular exposure.

“The hippie way of life seems to have rubbed off on him, as he's a flower power aficionado.”

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Meanings

verbrub off on (third-person singular simple present rubs off on, present participle rubbing off on, simple past and past participle rubbed off on)

present singular third person rubs off on · participle present rubbing off on · participle past rubbed off on · past rubbed off on

  1. idiomatictransitiveusuallybeliefsTo be acquired by or transferred to (someone) as a result of regular exposure.

    The hippie way of life seems to have rubbed off on him, as he's a flower power aficionado.

    2 more examples

    I had hoped that if I went out with Jackie, then some of that elder-stateswoman dignity would rub off on me, but of course without Phil she didn't have any.

    1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 19

    Over time, she explained, those beliefs started rubbing off on her.

    2023 October 11, David Yaffe-Bellany, Matthew Goldstein, J. Edward Moreno, “Caroline Ellison Says She and Sam Bankman-Fried Lied for Years”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Translations

German abfärben
  • abfärben(of behavior, etc.) to be acquired by or transferred to (someone)
Cite this entry
APA

rub off on. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rub%20off%20on

MLA

“rub off on.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rub%20off%20on. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rub off on,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rub%20off%20on.

Source: rub off on on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.