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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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 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

Such a promise needs to be written down, with a way for employees to challenge a broken commitment.

— Christoph Trattner, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
In an interview with Inside Edition on Tuesday, store owner Adam Rubin said that his store has been review-bombed since Clarkson took to social media and named the store, and employees and surrounding businesses have been harassed.

— Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of employee

Noun

As part of orchestrating this project, Simon was also involved in securing visas for the various international performers, encountering in the process the uneven access to travel for cultural workers across classes, nationalities, and milieus.

— Stephanie Wambugu, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026
The headman is compromised, an NGO in the area is pursuing its own politics, and the man running the mine discloses that Nengsal was never on the books, leaving workers like him invisible on their own land.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of worker

Browse Nearby Words

hired guns

hireling

hirelings

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

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Synonyms of hireling

noun

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