hacker

noun

hack·​er ˈha-kər 

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

Synonyms of hacker

• cracker
• cyberpunk
• geek

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

Last year, hackers accessed the government IDs of more than 70,000 who had complied with its age-verification requirements. —Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2026

For protection, sources say, Oseguera had acquired counter-drone radar scramblers and employed a bank of young computer hackers to infiltrate military mainframes to keep track of military and Mexican government intelligence. —Steve Fisher, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026

The firm was co-founded by the FBI agents who took down the Silk Road; one of them now hosts a podcast with a former blackhat hacker turned federal informant. —Brendan O'Connor, Curbed, 24 Feb. 2026

Then the hackers started releasing employee health records and Social Security numbers. —Pat Saperstein, Variety, 20 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hacker

• acker
• backer
• blacker
• cracker
• lacquer
• packer
• slacker
• stacker
• thacker
• tracker
• attacker
• backpacker

Kids 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