follower
Americannoun
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followers
plural
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a person or thing that follows.
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a person who follows another in regard to their ideas or belief; disciple or adherent.
- Synonyms:
- supporter
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a person who imitates, copies, or takes as a model or ideal.
He was little more than a follower of current modes.
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an attendant, servant, or retainer.
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a person who follows or subscribes to another's posts on a social media website.
He spent hours figuring out how to get more followers on Twitter.
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British Informal. a boyfriend or suitor, especially of a maidservant.
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Machinery. a part receiving motion from or following the movements of another part, especially a cam.
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Engineering, Building Trades. a concrete form attached to the head of a timber pile to permit casting of a concrete cap or pier.
noun
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a person who accepts the teachings of another; disciple; adherent
a follower of Marx
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an attendant or henchman
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an enthusiast or supporter, as of a sport or team
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(esp formerly) a male admirer
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rare a pursuer
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a machine part that derives its motion by following the motion of another part
Synonym Usage
Follower, adherent, partisan refer to someone who demonstrates allegiance to a person, a doctrine, a cause, or the like. Follower often has an implication of personal relationship or of slavish acquiescence. Adherent, a more formal word, has implications of active championship of a person or a point of view. Partisan, ordinarily meaning a person prejudiced and unreasoning in adherence to a party, during World War II took on the meaning of a member of certain groups in occupied countries of Europe who carried on underground resistance to the Nazis.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of follower
First recorded before 900; Middle English folwer, Old English folgere. See follow, -er 1
Explanation
A follower is a person who believes in a particular cause, faith, or specific person. A follower of Hinduism, for example, usually worships many gods. You might be a follower of Islam and also a follower of a popular self-help writer. In either case, you are devoted, loyal, and interested. You can also use the word follower to talk about someone who literally follows another person. When you play tag and the person who's "it" runs behind you as you dodge around trees, that person is a follower. The Old English root is folgere, "servant or disciple," from folgian, "follow, accompany, or pursue."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Fox’s coverage pivoted from hard fouls to trans panic, Clark got dragged into a fight she has spent three years trying to avoid and Cunningham’s follower count exploded.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
In late 2022, he launched an Instagram account and memos about boosting his follower count soon circulated through the Zurich headquarters—he is now up to 5.7 million while averaging more than 1,000 posts a year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
There are thousands of comments, with one follower suggesting to "wear baggy clothes and avoid the mirror", and another saying "eat chocolate".
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
When we first meet her, she’s not a super brave character, she is a rule follower, she is the designated driver, literally and metaphorically.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
He was also supportive to the Prince in all endeavors of hunting and battle, and you didn’t give a follower like that a quick “Get away, boy, you bother me.”
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
He was a financial adviser before he became an influencer seven years ago, and now he has more than 3 million followers and 50 million likes across his videos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
But a rival party, the hard-right anti-immigration Reform UK, rallies support on social media thanks to leader Nigel Farage with 1.5 million followers on TikTok, 2.3 million on Facebook and X.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Bowen, 29, has a business built on teaching interested followers to create content, monetize social-media accounts, and about how to invest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Rowling pronounced them “heroines” to her tens of millions of social media followers.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
The threat of rebellion spread as the Liberty Boys and other Patriot groups gained followers.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
