angler

American  

[ang-gler] / ˈæŋ glər /

noun

1. a person who fishes with a hook and line.

2. a person who gets or tries to get something through scheming.

3. Also called allmouth, anglerfish, goosefish, lotte, monkfish.  any large pediculate fish of the family Lophiidae, especially Lophius americanus, found along the Atlantic coast of America, having an immense mouth and a large, depressed head to which is attached a wormlike filament for luring prey.

4. Also called anglerfish.  any of various related fishes of the order Lophiiformes.

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angler British  

/ ˈæŋɡlə /

noun

1. a person who fishes with a rod and line

2. informal a person who schemes or uses devious methods to secure an advantage

3. Also called: angler fish.  any spiny-finned fish of the order Pediculati (or Lophiiformes ). They live at the bottom of the sea and typically have a long spiny movable dorsal fin with which they lure their prey

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Etymology

Origin of angler

First recorded in 1545–55; angle ² + -er ¹

Explanation

If you go fishing with a rod and a fishing line with a hook at the end of it, you're an angler. An angler might fish off the end of a dock, or from a rowboat in the middle of a lake. Anglers are distinguished by the fact that they fish with metal hooks, and they often release the fish they catch. You can also call one type of fish an angler, short for anglerfish, a big-headed, relatively small-bodied fish. Angler was originally a last name, and came to mean "fisherman" by about 1500, from the verb angle, "fish with a hook," from the Old English angel, which means "angle," but also "fishhook."

Example Sentences

What made the latest big haul so special, however, is the angler.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2025

An angler said he was "absolutely broken" after landing what he hopes will be confirmed as the largest ever recorded catfish in the UK.

From BBC • Jan. 8, 2025

Officers would now have a criteria to ensure the angler, hunter or trapper is fulfilling their residency requirement, she said.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 25, 2024

An Arizona angler, Stuart Black, reached out and invited Lackmann to a fishing expedition at Apache Lake, where the fish collected would be donated to science.

From Science Daily • Oct. 30, 2023

The angler fish had recovered itself and was swimming in circles.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young