Word.ws English Dictionary

hanger-on

hanger-on noun: someone who hangs on, or sticks to, a person, place, or service.

Noun

hanger-on (plural hangers-on)

  1. Someone who hangs on, or sticks to, a person, place, or service.
    • Her love was sought, I do aver, / By twenty beaux and more; / The king himself has follow'd her / When she has walk'd before. / But now her wealth and finery fled, / Her hangers-on cut short all […]c. 1760-1774, Oliver Goldsmith, An Elegy on the Glory of her Sex, Mrs Mary Blaze
    • Not that he was what is commonly called a Screw; that is to say he was not a mere screw; but he was acute and malicious; saw everybody's worth and position at a glance; could not bear to expend his choice wines and costly viands on hangers-on and toadeaters, though at the same time no man...1895, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil: Or; The Two Nations, page 161
  2. (historical) An onsetter.

hanger-on meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Persian

hanger-on in Tamil

அட்டை, அண்டி வாழ்பவர்

hanger-on in Malayalam

ആശ്രിതൻ, പരാധീനൻ, പാദസേവകൻ, വാലിൽത്തൂങ്ങി

hanger-on in Kannada

ಹಿಂಬಾಲಕ, ಹೊರಕುಳಿ

hanger-on in Persian

Someone who hangs on, or sticks
سوری suri

Synonyms of hanger-on

Forms of hanger-on

pluralhangers-on
alternative formhanger on

Origin of hanger-on

Agent noun of hang on.

Questions about hanger-on

What does hanger-on mean?
Hanger-on means someone who hangs on, or sticks to, a person, place, or service.
What is hanger-on in Tamil?
Hanger-on in Tamil is அட்டை, அண்டி வாழ்பவர். See Hanger-on meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is hanger-on?
Hanger-on is a noun.
What is the plural of hanger-on?
The plural of hanger-on is hangers-on.

Words near hanger-on in the dictionary

  1. hanger
  2. hanger and flogger
  3. hanger on
  4. hanger steak
  5. hanger steaks
  6. hanger-on
  7. hanger-outer
  8. hangerless
  9. hangerock
  10. hangerocks
  11. hangers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hanger-on (page history and authors); hanger-on (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hanger-on (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hanger-on (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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