angler

American  

[ang-gler] / ˈæŋ glər /

noun

• anglers
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• anglers
  plural

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

See Examples For:

angler anglers

“It’s a house divided,” says Bassmaster angler Drew Cook, who’s currently third in the Angler of the Year standings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

Not long ago, I watched a video of an angler tossing an urchin into the Atlantic surf and coming up with a nice-sized fluke.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Fuentes, a construction worker, is a dedicated angler who often spends his days off reeling in fish from the lake and then turning over his catch to his wife for cleaning and preparing for dinner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

Paying minimal attention to the huge clouds of smoke, an angler sat by the side of a pond, staring out across the water as he carried on fishing.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

The angler fish’s body had fully emerged when ice formed beneath them.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

The project also involves training local anglers and boat skippers to tag sharks too, so that they can contribute to the work.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

“The young anglers were accused of being videogame guys,” says James Hall, the editor in chief of Bassmaster magazine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

While many anglers will gently hover and twitch the urchin as a finesse-style bait, the young bass phenom and former Journal subject Dylan Quilatan has been fishing the urchin with a more aggressive approach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The behemoth fish was hooked on Thursday by local fisherman Justin Broussard after an “unforgettable battle that had nearby anglers watching in amazement,” district officials said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

Some 25 million Americans look to fishing as a major source of recreation and another 15 million are at least casual anglers.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson