FOLLOWERS Synonyms: 76 Similar and Opposite Words

followers

noun

plural of follower

as in adherents

one who follows the opinions or teachings of another the followers of Gandhi have spread his philosophy of nonviolence all over the world

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in imitators

a person who adopts the appearance or behavior of another especially in an obvious way Brando's Method acting inspired a whole generation of mumbling followers

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of followers Supporters embraced the insult as a badge of resilience, turning it into a satirical political campaign that amassed more than 21 million Instagram followers in a few days. — ABC News, 18 July 2026 Mascots, once an afterthought, are celebrities—Gritty, the beguiling ogre that represents Philadelphia’s hockey team, the Flyers, has significantly more Instagram followers than any of the team’s players. — Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026 Johnson, known as DreamDoll Brii on social media, was a budding influencer with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram and more than 500,000 on her TikTok account _itgirbri. — Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 17 July 2026 One of her rivals is Jason Sandy, who has more than a hundred thousand followers on Instagram and sits on the board of the Society of Thames Mudlarks. — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 17 July 2026 Despite his celebrity status and millions of followers, wildlife officials express serious concerns. — Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026 Since 2017, Miller’s posts about players and prospects, primarily on X, have been increasingly interspersed with calls for followers to donate to charitable campaigns. — Alex Andrejev, New York Times, 17 July 2026 During the nearly two-minute clip, the mom of four thanked her followers for their kind messages and prayers, revealing that her daughter is now in remission. — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 17 July 2026 The tax, generally considered a barometer of the tourist industry’s health, has been on a 14-month tear, shattering all monthly revenue records and outpacing the rosiest of predictions by its closest followers. — Ryan Gillespie, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for followers

Noun

Baric worked closely with researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which many adherents to the lab-leak theory posit as the source of the pandemic; one contingent thinks that Baric might have been the creator of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

— Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026
Many liberals had been disciplined to adopt methods that purported to strictly confine legal interpretation, only to discover that their most prominent adherents, whether covertly or unconsciously, had other plans.

— Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 2 July 2026

Definition of adherents

Noun

But the arrival of Buc-ee's supercharged the trend and spawned imitators like Wally's, which has three 50,000-square-foot locations in the Midwest, with plans for more.

— Kevin Williams, CNBC, 2 July 2026
The frontier labs keep shipping the next capability while the imitators are still training on the last one, and the value keeps accruing to whoever is ahead rather than to whoever copied the leader's previous answers.

— Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026

Definition of imitators

Noun

Back in his coaching career, Cruyff was one of the first managers to be obsessed with the cut of the pitch — a trait that has passed over to his disciples, most notably the exacting Pep Guardiola.

— Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 25 June 2026
Christian Science teaches that the divine laws of Truth and Life, as demonstrated by Jesus and his disciples, continue to operate today as an eternal, demonstrable Science.

— Alistair Budd, Christian Science Monitor, 24 June 2026

Definition of disciples

Noun

Whatever its international echoes, the exhibition incited local responses by far-right entities.

— Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 10 July 2026
From shabby apartments to art experiments to filthy needles—with echoes of Patti Smith and Rebecca Makkai—Adler conjures an era of sorrow borne by too many, too young.

— Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026

Definition of echoes

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“Followers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/followers. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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