crony

noun

cro·ny | \ ˈkrō-nē

plural cronies

Definition of crony

: a close friend especially of long standing : pal played golf with his cronies

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about crony

Keep scrolling for more

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 on the Web

That means whether or not Obama's cronies get their power back or whether the Trump agenda continues with its success. — Fox News, "Rudy Giuliani reacts to Paul Manafort's plea deal," 14 Sep. 2018 Frequently the money is used to reward political cronies. — WSJ, "Not All Stimulus Efforts Yield Equal Benefits," 4 Nov. 2018 This isn’t a rogue judicial operation to choose presidential cronies. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "The Never Conservatives," 3 Oct. 2018 Who was exactly what President Obama described in his speech as a strongman who demolished the institutions within South African and engaged in sort of crony capitalism and undermined a sense of democracy. — Fox News, "Laura Ingraham: Anatomy of a freak out," 19 July 2018 Corruption, repression, electoral cheating, the sale of state assets to cronies, even the use of violence—all served to give democracy a bad name, not least in Russia itself. — Margaret Macmillan, WSJ, "1989: The Year of Unfulfilled Hopes," 28 Dec. 2018 Today's Democrat Party is held hostage by left-wing haters, angry mobs, deep state radicals, establishment cronies, and their fake news allies. — Fox News, "Kevin McCarthy leads charge against social media censorship," 30 Aug. 2018 Get our daily newsletter Western leaders took care to explain that their confrontation is with Mr Putin and his cronies. — The Economist, "Western governments expel Russian diplomats," 28 Mar. 2018 So his circus cronies barge into a fancy party, with the Bearded Lady belting this song. — Alex Abad-santos, Vox, "The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show sells a fantasy of empowerment. I sorta believed it.," 3 Dec. 2018

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.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about crony

Dictionary Entries near crony

Statistics for crony

Last Updated

8 Mar 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for crony

The first known use of crony was in 1656

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for crony

crony

noun

English Language Learners Definition of crony

disapproving : a close friend of someone especially : a friend of someone powerful (such as a politician) who is unfairly given special treatment or favors

See the full definition for crony in the English Language Learners Dictionary

crony

noun

cro·ny | \ ˈkrō-nē

plural cronies