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
Older, unsupported operating systems are more vulnerable to hacker attacks while the newest systems running the latest builds have the most recent protections against these incidents.
—
Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025
Reusing passwords is like handing hackers a master key.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 26 Apr. 2025
This greatly raises the risk that he could’ve been successfully targeted by enterprising hackers from North Korea, China, Russia or elsewhere.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2025
Eder Ribeiro, director of global incident response at TransUnion, says emptying someone’s life savings is the primary goal, but hackers can still derive secondary value from the texting.
—Kevin Williams, CNBC, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hacker
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025
Reusing passwords is like handing hackers a master key.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 26 Apr. 2025
This greatly raises the risk that he could’ve been successfully targeted by enterprising hackers from North Korea, China, Russia or elsewhere.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2025
Eder Ribeiro, director of global incident response at TransUnion, says emptying someone’s life savings is the primary goal, but hackers can still derive secondary value from the texting.
—Kevin Williams, CNBC, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hacker
Cite this Entry
“Hacker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hacker. Accessed 30 Apr. 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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