hoarder

noun

hoard·​er ˈhȯr-dər 

plural hoarders

: a person or animal that hoards

We love shopping, and logically so: we're planners and hoarders, and by stocking up on available goods now, we can weather lean times tomorrow.

—Natalie Angier

specifically : a person with hoarding disorder

She is someone who buys too much and doesn't throw anything away, even as the stuff piles up and impedes normal life—the textbook definition of a hoarder.

—Steven Kurutz

Most hoarders … know that their behavior is socially unacceptable and as a result actively conceal it from others.

—Sandra G. Boodman

Examples of hoarder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These lunar babes change their attitude daily, collect meaningful items (Mr. Heckles is a hoarder) and protect their dwellings at any cost. —Lisa Stardust, Peoplemag, 22 Sep. 2024

That started way back in childhood in your parent’s hoarder home. —R. Eric Thomas, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2024

My lab was super messy, my new advisor was kind of a hoarder, and that scared me because there was mechanical parts all over this lab I was supposed to work in. —Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Sep. 2024

Mao launched a reprise of Stalin's crash industrialization program, expropriating vast quantities of grain from peasants based on fanciful production figures and executing hoarders as class enemies. —Nick Frisch, Foreign Affairs, 18 Oct. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1513, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

hoarder

noun

hoard·​er ˈhȯrd-ər 

: a person affected with hoarding disorder

Most hoarders … know that their behavior is socially unacceptable and as a result actively conceal it from others.

—Sandra G. Boodman