HIRELING Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

hireling

noun

ˈhī(-ə)r-liŋ

Definition of hireling

as in employee

one who works for another for wages or a salary demanded to speak to the store's owner and not one of his hirelings

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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 hireling His vote is of no more worth than that of any unprincipled foreigner or hireling native, who may have been bought. — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026 In October, studio hirelings with sound cameras and recording devices descended on suburbs around Los Angeles and smaller southern California towns and asked voters to voice their political preferences. — Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2026 To pretend otherwise in the year 2024 is all-but to out oneself as a hireling. — Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 12 Feb. 2024 Neither should some assistant DA hireling be allowed to forgo appropriate punishment under state law. — Star Tribune, 8 Dec. 2020 Not since Carson Palmer has one of Mike Brown’s hirelings had the emperor in such a headlock. — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 2 Jan. 2018 No refuge could save the hireling and slave from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave. — Solomon Jones, Philly.com, 18 July 2017

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hireling

Noun

Early returns also showed voters favoring Measure A, which would establish binding arbitration for sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and other public safety employees who by law cannot go on strike.

— Itzel Luna, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026
Mauldin, chair of the city’s Planning Commission and an employee of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, emphasized responsible growth, affordable housing and improvements to roads, public transit and utilities.

— Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of employee

Noun

An ex-Garden Grove police sergeant kidnapped and assaulted a co-worker, an Orange County prosecutor says.

— Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2026
Xavier Becerra grew up in Sacramento’s Hollywood Park, the son of a union construction worker and parents who grew up in Mexico, packed into a 700-square-foot house with his three sisters.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of worker

Browse Nearby Words

hired guns

hireling

hirelings

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Style

“Hireling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hireling. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of hireling

noun

Example Sentences

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