hireling

noun

ˈhī(-ə)r-liŋ How to pronounce hireling (audio)
Definition of hirelingnext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 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
  1. employee
  2. worker
Noun
  • Instead, the Secretary of State's office sent four employees and the Attorney General's Office sent three attorneys to court.
    — Shaun Boyd, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026
  • But that line of reasoning did not resonate with the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 6,000 Sharp employees, 81 of whom received layoff notices Tuesday.
    — Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of employee
Noun
  • The settlement will be paid by Hyundai Mobis, Kia and local staffing and recruitment agencies that helped find and bring the immigrant workers to Georgia on temporary visas.
    — AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • And in Pereira, a CNN team on the ground saw rescue workers and volunteers form a human chain to remove debris and help save those trapped from an apartment building.
    — Rocio Munoz, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of worker

Browse Nearby Words

hired guns
hireling
hirelings
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Cite this Entry

“Hireling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hireling. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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