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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Cedric Grant, the water board's executive director, had failed to convince enough lawmakers that his proposal wouldn't irreparably harm historical protections against hiring cronies or political allies at the 118-year-old public agency.
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Founded in 1908, the bureau started out plagued by the very problems Civil Service law was designed to eliminate: incompetence, corruption and crony appointments.
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Politicians have delayed or prevented solutions if their cronies don’t get contracts to fuel, maintain, or build power plants.
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This fake friend is no substitute for real ones, so be sure to experience Borderlands with your online cronies.
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
First Known Use: 1656
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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