stalker

noun

stalk·​er ˈstȯ-kər 

plural stalkers

1

: a person who stalks : a person who pursues someone obsessively and aggressively to the point of harassment

celebrity stalkers

In 1990, California was the first state to pass a stalking law that made it a crime to follow, threaten, or harass someone—especially if the stalker threatened violence.

—George

Eighty-seven percent of stalkers are men. Women tend to be victimized by lone male stalkers whom they know, while men are more likely to be stalked by strangers, and half of male victims' stalkers had an accomplice.

—Matthew Klein

2

: a person or animal that pursues quarry or prey stealthily

a deer stalker

Though I catch my share of trout, I do it by being a good stalker and knowing where the fish lie …

—Bill Barich

Polar bears are superb stalkers, and have a way of suddenly appearing heart-stoppingly close.

—John P. Wiley, Jr.

Examples of stalker in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the early hours of the investigation into the murder of Kenny Fandrich, his wife Tanya told detectives her husband had a stalker — seen on the couple's home security cameras in the carport of their home in Oregon City, Oregon. —Natalie Morales, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026

The appeals judges in the case, however, said that Judge Everett did take Hardy's neurodivergence into consideration, but dropped a year off of his sentence due to a technicality from a 2017 law on stalker sentences. —Jessica Sager, PEOPLE, 26 Jan. 2026

But unlike that cinematic predecessor, in which the pursuer took the form of a variety of strangers, here, the stalker invariably appears as the victim’s crush. —Natalia Winkelman, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2026

While livestreaming from Miami, Peters appears to run over an alleged stalker with his Cybertruck. —Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic, 19 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for stalker

• blocker
• chalker
• cocker
• docker
• hawker
• hocker
• knocker
• locker
• mocker
• ocher
• rocker
• shocker