What does hookup mean?
Hookup is a flexible word for making or describing a connection. In everyday conversation, it often means an informal meeting or introduction between people, including a romantic or social connection, as in “I had a hookup with an old friend.” In business contexts, it may refer to a promising contact, partnership, or arrangement. The word is also widely used for connecting equipment to a power supply, network, or another device, where it is more technical and neutral. Its informal meanings are especially associated with North American English, while “hookup” as a physical or electronic connection is understood internationally. Overall, the term conveys the idea of linking two previously separate people, things, or systems.
An informal connection, meeting, introduction, or arrangement between people, organizations, or systems.
"The networking event was a good hookup for people looking for collaborators."
The informal senses are especially common in North American English; the technical sense of a device or network connection is neutral.
To connect a device, system, or person to another object, network, power source, or arrangement.
"The technician hooked up the new router to the network."
In informal usage, this can mean to meet someone or become connected with a person or group.
The plural is used for multiple informal meetings, connections, arrangements, or device connections.
"The app helps users make hookups with people who share their interests."
A hookup began as a way of connecting one thing to another, and the word eventually grew to describe the people and opportunities that connect.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of hookup
The word is a compound of hook and up. Its earliest uses developed from the idea of fastening or attaching something with a hook, including mechanical and electrical contexts. By the early 20th century, the term had also come to refer to a connection or association between people, and later acquired more informal social and romantic senses. The related forms hooked and hooking developed by adding ordinary inflectional endings to the same base.
Related word forms
How hookup is actually used
The noun is informal in most contemporary English and is especially common in North American usage. In business, media, and social contexts, it can sound casual; in technical contexts, it is often neutral and refers to a physical or network connection. The phrase get hooked up can also mean becoming connected, equipped, or involved with something.
Easily confused with hookup
A hitch is a temporary problem or obstruction, whereas a hookup is usually a connection, meeting, or arrangement.
A hook is a physical fastening device or a curved feature, while a hookup is the connection or arrangement made through it.