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 Before the Spain fixture, Vozinha had around 50,000 followers on Instagram, but that has since rocketed to 28 million. — Tom Burrows, New York Times, 12 July 2026 That’s not unusual among followers of Shia Islam, whose tradition is one of outward displays of faith. — Frederik Pleitgen, CNN Money, 11 July 2026 Scott Dunn, a political communication professor at Radford University, told USA TODAY that social media allows politicians like Kennedy to form parasocial relationships with their followers, effectively creating one-sided intimacy. — Jay Stahl, USA Today, 11 July 2026 Nestled between the mountains and the Mediterranean, the estate became the family’s full-time residence during the pandemic, when Djokovic occasionally offered followers a glimpse inside through social media posts. — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 10 July 2026 Hayden, a former University of Miami soccer player, has more than 167,000 Instagram followers. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 10 July 2026 The broadcaster said its news content had generated more than 5 billion video views on social platforms during the season, with its news accounts reaching more than 25 million followers. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 10 July 2026 On Thursday, July 9, Darla posted an Instagram video speaking out about Kauana, who had over 20,000 followers at the time of her death. — Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 10 July 2026 Throughout the journey, Pfendler documented life alone at sea for hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, sharing the physical and mental challenges of crossing one of the world's largest oceans. — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 5 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

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
The rural storytelling and fiddle music on the frontier inspired the emergence and growth of commercial country music and bluegrass music, while echoes of acoustic blues and protest songs can be heard in modern R&B and hip-hop.

— Ted Olson, The Conversation, 2 July 2026

Definition of echoes

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“Followers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/followers. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of followers

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