cheerleader
Americannoun
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cheerleaders
plural
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a person who leads spectators in cheering, usually a member of a team that performs dance, acrobatic, and tumbling routines at sporting events or in competitions with other teams.
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a person who encourages and openly supports the success of a person or cause.
Her dad has always been her biggest cheerleader.
He emerged as a cheerleader for the rights of the incarcerated.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cheerleader
Explanation
A cheerleader is a member of a team that performs synchronized cheers and dance routines, usually from the sidelines of a game. The best cheerleaders are extremely strong and flexible, with a great sense of rhythm. The main job of a cheerleader is to rally a sports team to victory, although many cheerleaders also perform complex acrobatic routines. The traditional uniform that a cheerleader wears includes a short skirt or shorts. In the late 19th century, cheerleaders were simply college students in the stands who called out school cheers in unison. By the 1890s, official cheerleading squads were formed, originally including only men — no women or girls were cheerleaders until 1923.
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:
Panettiere’s Claire was at the center of the series’ marketing thanks to the slogan, “Save the cheerleader, save the world.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Hayden Panettiere, the former child actor who became a household name as an indestructible cheerleader on “Heroes” before starring as a troubled country singer on “Nashville,” has died.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Panettiere, who earned acclaim for her roles as a cheerleader with supernatural powers on the TV show “Heroes” and as a troubled country music diva on the show “Nashville,” was 36.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Her big breakthrough came the same year, when she was cast as another cheerleader - this time with the power of rapid cellular regeneration - in the highly popular sci-fi series Heroes.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Dorothy passed us, walking with Sandy Whitt, the head cheerleader.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Disney dressed the Angels in uniforms derided by one player as “pinstripe pajamas,” put cheerleaders on the dugout roof, and installed a loud “countdown to first pitch.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Soon after, the cheerleaders for the 1976 championship basketball team came out to perform.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Weaver, a Florida native clad in a navy Cowboys cheerleaders tracksuit during a recent video call, refutes this.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Your oldest friends won’t always be your biggest cheerleaders when your back is turned.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
"What? Has love gone from the world? Are there no more heartthrobs left? No screen goddesses to adore or cheerleaders to pine for?"
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
