as in employe
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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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
For all the bombast about Trump as a potential Putin hireling, so assiduously hyped by the media and congressional Democrats, Mueller’s actual charges mainly involved false statements made to FBI investigators, often about comparatively trivial matters.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 15 Feb. 2022
No refuge could save the hireling and slave.
—Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE.com, 30 June 2021
Neither should some assistant DA hireling be allowed to forgo appropriate punishment under state law.
—Star Tribune, 8 Dec. 2020
Like Sade, Epstein had hirelings to procure his victims.
—Mitchell Abidor, The New York Review of Books, 12 Feb. 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
This dangerous idea is being pushed by Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, a U.S. contracting firm whose private security hirelings famously shot up civilians in Baghdad.
—Trudy Rubin, Philly.com, 18 Aug. 2017
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
Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 12 Feb. 2024
For all the bombast about Trump as a potential Putin hireling, so assiduously hyped by the media and congressional Democrats, Mueller’s actual charges mainly involved false statements made to FBI investigators, often about comparatively trivial matters.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 15 Feb. 2022
No refuge could save the hireling and slave.
—Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE.com, 30 June 2021
Neither should some assistant DA hireling be allowed to forgo appropriate punishment under state law.
—Star Tribune, 8 Dec. 2020
Like Sade, Epstein had hirelings to procure his victims.
—Mitchell Abidor, The New York Review of Books, 12 Feb. 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
This dangerous idea is being pushed by Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, a U.S. contracting firm whose private security hirelings famously shot up civilians in Baghdad.
—Trudy Rubin, Philly.com, 18 Aug. 2017
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
-
Offer Communication Training for Everyone Rather than expecting underrepresented groups to adapt to the dominant culture, train all employees in inclusive communication practices.—
Dr. Diane Hamilton,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
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Starting wages for employees at the Leavenworth facility are $28.25 an hour plus benefits, Gustin said, adding that new hires are paid during and after their training period, even as the prison cells remain empty.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The trust fund used to make up the difference between what workers are paying in and what Social Security pays out in benefits is projected to run out of money in nine years.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Aug. 2025
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Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images In one of the world’s most expensive cities, more workers are living paycheck to paycheck The Singapore consumer’s reputation for financial prudence and high savings is showing signs of strain.—
Yeo Boon Ping,
CNBC,
14 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hireling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hireling. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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