social lubricant

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Something that helps people interact more comfortably in social situations

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

một thứ gì đó giúp mọi người tương tác thoải mái hơn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a substance that reduces friction
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Alcohol can serve as a social lubricant at parties

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “social lubricant” mean?

Something that helps people interact more comfortably in social situations Literally: a substance that reduces friction

Is “social lubricant” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.