Acquihire means: An acquisition of a company to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.. It is informal slang, fine in casual speech but not suited to formal contexts. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
acquihire
(business, _, slang) An acquisition of a company to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.
Etymology timeline
Born ~2005 · no dated citations yetLate-Millennial / Web 2.0 eraSee decade cohort →
Definitions
Global
#1·Apr 26, 2026Global
(business, _, slang) An acquisition of a company to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.
Then, in August, they bought Push Pop press, which was seen as an acquihire of designers Kimon Tsinteris and Mike Matas, who designed several of key pieces of the iPhone interface.
For parents
Acquihire means: An acquisition of a company to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.. It is informal slang, fine in casual speech but not suited to formal contexts. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
For ESL learners
acquihire means: An acquisition of a company to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.. Register: very informal, slang. Suitable only for casual conversation, chat and social media. Do not use in business, academic or news writing. Common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; always check the context before producing it yourself.
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Global
#2·Apr 26, 2026Global
(business, _, slang, transitive) To acquire a company, in particular a small startup, to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.
Origin: as acqhire, , in reference to acquisition of Dodgeball.com by Google. Hammock subsequently worked to popularize the word. Spelling inconsistent, particularly to difficulty in pronunciation (), leading to longer variants. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
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Other words near "acquihire" (A)
acoustic energyacoustic failacoustic modeacoustic pilledAC Plonkacquaintacquireacre footacrossACSMActaeonaction
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Semantically related
- acquire64%
(transitive) To get.
- acquire63%
(transitive) To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own.
- acquire60%
(medicine) To become affected by an illness.
- hire purchase59%
(UK, Irish, Commonwealth) A method of purchasing an item, where the buyer hires it and takes possession of it and pays regular instalments. Ownership is only transferred on payment of the final amount. Abbreviated as HP.