socialising

socialising — noun

1. the activity of spending time with friends, colleagues, or other people in order

1.nounB1
Definition

the activity of spending time with friends, colleagues, or other people in order to relax and enjoy yourself, especially when you are not working

Example

Élise finds it hard to balance work commitments and socialising with her university friends.

uncountable noun: 'socialising with + [people]'

The new job involves a lot of socialising at conferences and industry dinners.

involves + socialising + prepositional phrase

Common collocations
  • enjoy socialising
  • avoid socialising
  • socialising with friends
  • socialising at work
  • socialising opportunities
  • love socialising
  • hate socialising
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • isolation

    the state of being alone, away from other people

  • solitude

    being alone by choice, not necessarily negative

Usage Note

Commonly follows verbs like 'enjoy', 'avoid', 'prefer', 'involve', and prepositions like 'with' to indicate the people involved.

Common Mistakes

I like socialise with friends.
I like socialising with friends.
after 'like', 'enjoy', 'avoid', use the gerund (-ing form).

2. the process of teaching a person or an animal to behave in a way that their grou

2.nounB2
Definition

the process of teaching a person or an animal to behave in a way that their group or society considers to be normal and acceptable

Example

The early socialising of puppies helps them become calm, confident adult dogs.

noun + of + [animals]: socialising of puppies

Kindergartens play a key role in the socialising of young children.

Common collocations
  • early socialising
  • socialising of children
  • socialising of animals
  • socialising process
  • proper socialising
  • lack of socialising
Synonyms
  • socialisation

    the more formal noun form, preferred in academic and professional writing

  • training

    broader; can refer to any skill, not just social behaviour

  • integration

    focuses on becoming part of a group

Usage Note

This sense is often used with the preposition 'of' to specify who or what is being trained (e.g. 'socialising of children', 'socialising of dogs'). Also common in passive constructions where the subject is the person being trained.

Common Mistakes

The socialising of the new staff was done by the manager.' (ambiguous - could mean partying)
The socialisation of new staff was handled by the manager.
use 'socialisation' instead of 'socialising' for the training sense in formal written English to avoid confusion with the social sense.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Socialising is the broadest term for spending leisure time with others in a friendly way. Mixing suggests moving among different people at an event rather than staying with one group — 'he was good at mixing with guests from all departments'. Fraternising carries a more formal or even slightly disapproving tone, especially in workplace rules that forbid 'fraternising with colleagues' outside office hours. Networking focuses on meeting people for professional or career advantage, not purely for enjoyment: 'the conference was a chance for networking rather than socialising.' While socialising is usually about pleasure, networking is purposeful and strategic. Choose socialising for general friendly interaction, mixing for moving between groups, fraternising for situations with a boundary being crossed, and networking when career benefit is the goal.

socialising ↗mixingfraternisingnetworking ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • life
  • events
  • activities
  • skills
  • opportunities

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a night of socialising
  • opportunities for socialising
  • socialising with colleagues
  • socialising outside work

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Socialising comes from the verb socialise, which was formed from the adjective social (from Latin 'socialis' meaning 'of companionship or allies') combined with the verb suffix -ise. The word social itself traces back to Latin 'socius' meaning 'companion, friend, ally'. The verb socialise emerged in the early 19th century, originally meaning 'to make social' or 'to render social'. The gerund form socialising became common in the 20th century as a noun referring to the activity of being with others.