Word.ws English Dictionary

tarrier

/ˈtæɹiɚ//ˈtæɹi.ə/

tarrier noun: a layabout or loiterer; someone who tarries. Also the comparative form of tarry.

Noun

tarrier (plural tarriers)

  1. A layabout or loiterer; someone who tarries.
  2. (UK, derogatory, slang) A Roman Catholic of Northern Ireland or Scotland.
    • Wouldnae even offer Jock Stein – your greatest ever manager – a seat on the board 'cause he wasnae a Tarrier.2011, Christopher Brookmyre, The Sacred Art of Stealing
    • It was the Irish “tarriers” working on the railroad that provided the context for the folk ballad that began […]2015, Peter I. Rose, They and We, page 47

Also used as

tarrier is also the comparative form of tarry.

tarrier is also the obsolete form of terrier.

Forms of tarrier

pluraltarriers

Origin of tarrier

The Roman Catholic slang variation is possibly derived from Saint Erasmus being labeled as a "tarrier of time" before torture and execution for his beliefs.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words that rhyme with tarrier

Questions about tarrier

What does tarrier mean?
Tarrier means a layabout or loiterer; someone who tarries.
What part of speech is tarrier?
Tarrier is a noun.
How do you pronounce tarrier?
Tarrier is pronounced /ˈtæɹi.ə/ (UK).
What is the plural of tarrier?
The plural of tarrier is tarriers.

Words near tarrier in the dictionary

  1. tarres
  2. tarriance
  3. tarriances
  4. Tarriaro
  5. tarried
  6. tarrier
  7. tarriers
  8. tarries
  9. tarriest
  10. tarrieth
  11. tarrif

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tarrier (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-tarrier.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tarrier (adj).wav.

Cite this entry: “tarrier.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tarrier. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.