plural lobbyists
: one who conducts activities aimed at influencing or swaying public officials and especially members of a legislative body on legislation : a person engaged in lobbying public officials
The new rule says that if you were a registered lobbyist in the past two years, you can't work for the administration on any issue you touched. After you leave government, you can't lobby the administration at all.Jacob Weisberg
Because so many lobbyists have past experience on Capitol Hill, they usually have personal ties both to members of congress and to their key staffers, who vet and prioritize the earmark requests.Ken Silverstein

Examples of lobbyist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
At the new packaging coalition, one lobbyist is Rachel Wagoner, the former head of CalRecycle, who helped draft, negotiate and usher in the regulations for the single-use plastics bill. Susanne Rust follow, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026 Kelly is an ex-registered lobbyist who also founded Influent, a vendor that uses AI to generate personalized letters to policymakers, in lieu of old-fashioned form letters. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 1 Sep. 2026 This part of the bill directly addresses concerns brought forth by doctors, said Angela Hill, legislative advocate and registered lobbyist with the California Medical Association, which sponsored AB 2346. Madison Smalstig, Sacbee.com, 1 Sep. 2026 The correction doesn’t mention his work with kratom industry lobbyists. Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, 1 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for lobbyist

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of lobbyist was in 1841

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Cite this Entry

“Lobbyist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lobbyist. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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