name-droppingn.adj.
/ˈneɪmˌdrɒpɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈneɪmˌdrɑpɪŋ/ A. n.
The practice of casually mentioning the names of famous or prominent people that one knows or claims to know, in order to impress others.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > name-dropping > [noun]
name-dropping1945
namesmanship1964
1945 Berkshire Evening Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 2 Mar. 7/7 Would you charge me with name-dropping?
1950 M. McCarthy in Reporter (N.Y.) 1 Aug. 33/1 The idea that it's smart to be in step, to be liberal or avant-garde, is conveyed through the name-dropping of a Leo Lerman in Mademoiselle.
1951 L. Z. Hobson Celebrity (1953) viii. 119 Rex Stout and Oscar Hammerstein... Conversational spice, he had been thinking; nobody could call it name-dropping.
1999 Times 16 July 24/7 Name-dropping is so vulgar, as I was telling the Queen last week.
B. adj.
Characterized by, consisting of, or indulging in name-dropping.
ΚΠ
1946 Los Angeles Times 26 Aug. 115/3 Here is a story without names for this name-dropping column.
1954 Los Angeles Times 19 Oct. 26/2 If there was one objection, it was to the ‘name-dropping’ habit of these super one-shots.
1966 Philosophy 41 359 Plus a wordy, name-dropping Introduction.
1986 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 June 626/2 He mounts a sonorously name-dropping attack on Discipline and Punish.
1997 N.Y. Times 20 June b3/2 He's..a receptive listener for a name-dropping glamourpuss who promises glory without sweat.
Derivatives
name-ˈdroppingly adv. rare
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > name-dropping > [adverb]
name-droppingly1966
1966 Guardian 30 Dec. 4/8 He becomes absorbed (name droppingly so) into the ranks of the literati.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1945