Definition of crony
cronies
: a close friend especially of long standing : pal played golf with his cronies
From the M-W Editors
Examples of crony in a Sentence
The mayor rewarded his cronies with high-paying jobs after he was elected.
the criminal's cronies were also closely questioned about the illegal gambling operation
Recent Examples of crony from the Web
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This is a great example of crony capitalism, in which an industry uses the government to create a new market for itself, regardless of the underlying policy rationale.
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The most influential, Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, gained insight into Mr Putin’s system of crony capitalism during his time as Russia director at ExxonMobil, an energy company.
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But there were both Republicans and Democrats who were opposed to the bills, calling them everything from crony capitalism to corporate welfare.
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Holland is 21, but his high school cronies (Harrier, Jacob Batalon, Zendaya) are believably teen-y.
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In A.F. Harrold’s gripping novel set in England, the girl, who goes by Frank, cannot seem to turn around without being persecuted by an older boy and his malignant cronies.
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Ryan and his cronies went away and came back with a bill that was somehow worse and more unpopular than the first version of the bill.
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Pelosi had suffered particular criticism for Jon Ossoff's four-point loss in Georgia on Tuesday, since supporters of Karen Handel had repeatedly portrayed Ossoff as a Pelosi crony to bolster Republican turnout.
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Do Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his cronies need a pardon?
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crony.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of crony
perhaps from Greek chronios long-lasting, from chronos time
CRONY Defined for English Language Learners
crony
playDefinition of crony for English Language Learners
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: a close friend of someone; especially : a friend of someone powerful (such as a politician) who is unfairly given special treatment or favors
CRONY Defined for Kids
crony
playDefinition of crony for Students
cronies
: a close friend especially of someone powerful (as a politician)
Learn More about crony
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See words that rhyme with crony Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for crony Spanish Central: Translation of crony Nglish: Translation of crony for Spanish speakers
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