henchman
- an unscrupulous and ruthless subordinate, especially a criminal: The leader of the gang went everywhere accompanied by his henchmen.
- an unscrupulous supporter or adherent of a political figure or cause, especially one motivated by the hope of personal gain: Hitler and his henchmen.
- a trusted attendant, supporter, or follower.
- Obsolete. a squire or page.
Origin of henchman
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for henchman
Contemporary Examples
That has the Journal newsroom worrying they could end up working for a controversial Rupert henchman.
En route, Tron encounters the MCP's henchman, Sark, and the two battle it out cyberstyle.
“He was always in the political equation,” Nixon henchman Chuck Colson once told me.
Historical Examples
A henchman attended, carried the carven cup in hand, served the clear mead.
BeowulfAnonymous
No henchman he worthied by weapons, if witness his features, his peerless presence!
BeowulfAnonymous
At sight of them, I swung round and gripped my henchman by the shoulder.
Bardelys the MagnificentRafael Sabatini
"Wh-h—" stuttered the henchman, and then almost snatched it from Tim's hand.
Sonnie-Boy's PeopleJames B. Connolly
For his tone was that of the great man addressing his henchman.
The Plum TreeDavid Graham Phillips
henchman
- a faithful attendant or supporter
- archaic a squire; page
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for henchman
n.
mid-14c., hengestman, later henshman (mid-15c.) "high-ranking servant (usually of gentle birth), attendant upon a king, nobleman, etc.," originally "groom," probably from man (n.) + Old English hengest "horse, stallion, gelding," from Proto-Germanic *hangistas (cf. Old Frisian hengst, Dutch hengest, German Hengst "stallion"), perhaps literally "best at springing," from PIE *kenku- (cf. Greek kekiein "to gush forth;" Lithuanian sokti "to jump, dance;" Breton kazek "a mare," literally "that which belongs to a stallion").
Perhaps modeled on Old Norse compound hesta-maðr "horse-boy, groom." The word became obsolete in England but was retained in Scottish as "personal attendant of a Highland chief," in which sense Scott revived it in literary English from 1810. Sense of "obedient or unscrupulous follower" is first recorded 1839, probably based on a misunderstanding of the word as used by Scott.