What does "fraternize" mean?

To associate with others in a brotherly or friendly manner.

How do you pronounce "fraternize"?

Pronounced //ˈfɹætənaɪz//.

Common synonyms include: act the traitor, associate, associate with, assort with, attend, be acquainted with.

//ˈfɹætənaɪz// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Verb

1
To associate with others in a brotherly or friendly manner. intransitive
2
be on friendly terms with someone, as if with a brother, especially with an enemy wordnet
3
To associate as friends with an enemy, in violation of duty. intransitive
"Now in this world it is never wise to meddle with such things. It's better to leave them as they are. No one ever had any good come to him from fraternizing with too great familiarity with the unknown; and it's a very good thing that the children from The Other Side are as shy as they are, as Alice found out through Evelyn Dearie."
4
To socialize in confidentiality. intransitive
5
To have an intimate or sexual relationship with a forbidden party. intransitive

"Where a genius shows up, the fools fraternize."

PIE word *bʰréh₂tēr From French fraterniser.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.