old boy network
old boy network noun: a presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism.
Noun
old boy network (plural old boy networks)
- A presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism.
- His hiring and promotion of senior officers rested not on merit but on an old-boy network of connections from Wall Street and the Social Register.2007, Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes, Penguin, published 2008, page 7
- Another BWMT member said bars have no open advertising for bartenders and no affirmative action policy. He said bars hire "young, good looking white men" through an "old-boy network."1982 April 10, David Morris, “Highly Segregated”, in Gay Community News, page 2
- Synonyms:
- good old boy network
Synonyms of old boy network
Forms of old boy network
| plural | old boy networks |
|---|---|
| alternative form | old-boy network |
Questions about old boy network
- What does old boy network mean?
- Old boy network means a presumed unacknowledged system of association between childhood friends (especially those at school or university together), used for mutual assistance or favouritism.
- What part of speech is old boy network?
- Old boy network is a noun.
- What is the plural of old boy network?
- The plural of old boy network is old boy networks.
Words near old boy network in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: old boy network (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-old boy network.ogg.
Cite this entry: “old boy network.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/old_boy_network. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.