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↩️ To avoid 📢 To spread 🚌 To travel locally 🗣️ To socialize widely
to get around

to get around

38 5.6
Spend time meeting many different people
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡɛt əˈraʊnd/
  • Informal
translation icon : moverse
  • And so for me, it's like when you get around people, when you spend enough time with people to see what people want and then you give them what they need.

And I am going to lessen the noise of the negative people around me and get around positive people who amplify the noise of positivity.

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Examples

  • Tell me, have you been getting around?

    Fiction book (1996)

  • He loves to get around and meet new people at different events.

  • And from that time on, I could kind of get around and feel like, OK, this is my place.

  • I mean, you said you get around...

    Red Eye (2017)

  • So how are you two getting around?

    Restless (2011)

  • You seem to be getting around a lot lately.

    Malicious (2018)

  • We boys from the Journal always get around.

    Scarface (1932)

  • Being the restless mommy that I was, I got around the city a lot when my son was younger.

    Blog text (11)

  • If you're a guest, you can even borrow a bike to get around town.

    Blog text (24)

  • I had briefed them on how to get around in Venice, what to see, and supplied them with maps and their box lunches.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

to move around
vsto get around
46 1.8

To travel from place to place for work or duties

is informal social activity across many places rather than work travel
to swing
vsto get around
  • Archaic
36 7.9

Go out to party and socialize in lively places

is about wide social activity rather than a specific lifestyle
to run around with
vsto get around
  • Informal
20 6.5

To spend time casually with people who may cause trouble

focuses on broad social activity and many contacts rather than single groups
to get about
vsto get around
  • UK
9 2.8

To move around a house or area

is social and emphasizes meeting many people rather than mere travel
to work the room
vsto get around
  • Informal
5 7.1

To move around a party or event and talk to many people to make connections

is broader, covering activity across many social situations rather than one event
to get amongst it
vsto get around
  • UK
8.6

To join an activity or group with energy and interest

is wider, meaning being active across many social places not only groups

Antonyms

to stay home
336 1.0

Be at home and not go out

to isolate
256 4.2

To keep someone or something apart from others

How Social

to get around
  • Informal
38 5.6
to socialize
  • US
68 2.8
to go out
893 1.0
to stay home
336 1.0

Surface Forms

get around infinitive
getting around present participle
gets around third person singular
got around past
got around past participle

Morphology

get + around

The meaning 'to move or travel from place to place' is directly compositional from 'get' (arrive/move) + 'around' (about various places), following a common English verb + particle pattern. This motion sense maps onto clear spatial logic found in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Get around (informal) comes from the idea of a person moving between many groups or places, visiting different parties or talking to many people. So if someone gets around, they meet lots of people and are active in many social situations, which is why it means 'to socialize widely'.