suitor
Americannoun
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a man who courts or woos a woman.
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Law. a petitioner or plaintiff.
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a person who sues or petitions for anything.
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Informal. an individual who seeks to buy a business.
noun
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a man who courts a woman; wooer
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law a person who brings a suit in a court of law; plaintiff
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rare a person who makes a request or appeal for anything
Etymology
Origin of suitor
1250–1300; Middle English s ( e ) utor, suitour < Anglo-French < Latin secūtor, equivalent to secū-, variant stem of sequī to follow + -tor -tor
Explanation
A suitor is a guy who asks you out on a date. You can describe your sister's prom escort as her suitor. The noun suitor is an old fashioned word for a somewhat old fashioned kind of person: a man who woos or courts a woman. If a boy serenades you from below your bedroom window, he is your suitor, especially if he hopes to marry you one day. In the fourteenth century, a suitor was a fan or follower — the romantic meaning came along almost two hundred years later. The root is the Latin word sequi, "to attend or follow."
Vocabulary lists containing suitor
The Odyssey
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Much Ado About Nothing
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The Suffix -or, Part 1
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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.
Penelope is later seen declaring that "Ithaca's king is coming back", but her main suitor Antinous refuses to believe it.
From BBC • May 5, 2026
But his girlfriend broke up with him and he decided that quitting his job and sitting in the family hunting cabin in the woods would make him a better suitor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
When her suitor mistakes the blood for an injury, it soon becomes clear that his expensive education was somewhat incomplete.
From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026
Warner reopened talks last week with Paramount, giving the company a seven-day window to negotiate and telling the hostile suitor to make its “best and final” offer.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
Bali laughs at this runt of a suitor and his puny request.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
