An icebreaker is something that helps people feel more comfortable when they first meet or start working together. The word comes from ships called icebreakers that break through frozen water to clear a path for other vessels. Just as those ships break through physical ice, an icebreaker activity breaks through the social awkwardness that can make new situations feel frozen or stiff.

Teachers often use icebreaker games at the beginning of the school year to help classmates learn each other's names and start feeling relaxed together. A simple icebreaker might be “two truths and a lie,” where each person shares three facts about themselves and others guess which one isn't true. Youth group leaders, camp counselors, and coaches use icebreakers when bringing together kids who don't know each other yet.

An icebreaker can also be something you say to start a conversation with someone new. If you sit next to a new student at lunch and comment on the book they're reading, you've used an icebreaker to begin a conversation. The goal is to make that first interaction easier and more natural, so you can move on to real conversation instead of sitting in uncomfortable silence.