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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.

Presumably those who do decide to stay in room 411 are hoping that Christie’s literary genius might somehow rub off.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

In some cases, the fish attempted to rub off the mark within the first hour of seeing a mirror.

From Science Daily • Feb. 23, 2026

Some of her enthusiasm might rub off on you.

From Salon • Aug. 27, 2025

Despite the devastating physical and emotional impact of his accident, it seems that some of the optimism and hope that his protagonist Karim feels, is starting to rub off on him.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2024

“I can’t live in this country twenty-five years and not have some of it rub off on me,” she said.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

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.