1
: one that hacks
2
: a person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity
a tennis hacker
3
: an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer
4
: a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system
Examples of hacker in a Sentence
My friends and I have been playing golf for years, but we're still just a bunch of hackers.
the company's security experts spent days trying to figure out how a hacker could have gotten past the firewall
Recent Examples on the Web
An Ascension spokesperson did not respond to questions sent by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Thursday asking whether the health system paid a ransom and what its investigation found about the identity of the hackers.
—
Sarah Volpenhein, Journal Sentinel, 21 Dec. 2024
Even more alarming is the two-month window hackers had to exploit the credit union's systems before being detected.
—Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 19 Dec. 2024
At the other end of the scale, according to Orange’s research, residential proxy networks have broadly been used for cyber espionage by Russian hackers, in social engineering efforts, as part of DDoS attacks, phishing, botnets, and more.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 19 Dec. 2024
The hackers are believed to have sent some of the information to Biden's allies.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hacker 
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Sarah Volpenhein, Journal Sentinel, 21 Dec. 2024
Even more alarming is the two-month window hackers had to exploit the credit union's systems before being detected.
—Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 19 Dec. 2024
At the other end of the scale, according to Orange’s research, residential proxy networks have broadly been used for cyber espionage by Russian hackers, in social engineering efforts, as part of DDoS attacks, phishing, botnets, and more.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 19 Dec. 2024
The hackers are believed to have sent some of the information to Biden's allies.
—Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hacker
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Dictionary Entries Near hacker
Cite this Entry
“Hacker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hacker. Accessed 11 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hacker
noun
hack·er
ˈhak-ər 
1
: one that hacks
2
: a person who is unskilled at a particular activity
3
: an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer
4
: a person who illegally gains access to a computer system
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