crony
Americannoun
plural
croniesnoun
Usage
What does crony mean? A crony is a close friend or associate, especially one among several. Crony can be used in a neutral way meaning much the same thing as buddy or pal, as in I still get together with my college cronies. But the word is most often used in a negative way to refer to a lackey or an accomplice in some kind of shady or illegal activity. It’s especially used in a political context to refer to friends or associates of people in power who are appointed to positions or otherwise shown favor due to their relationship with that person, rather than for their qualifications, as in He ran for office to enrich himself and his cronies. When used this way, it implies a criticism of such people. The term cronyism refers to the practice of appointing and otherwise favoring people in this way. Example: Several of the company’s executives were known to be cronies of the CEO, making them unpopular with many employees.
Etymology
Origin of crony
1655–65; alleged to be university slang; perhaps < Greek chrónios for a long time, long-continued, derivative of chrónos time; chrono-
Explanation
A crony (rhymes with “pony”) is a buddy, a close confidant you spend time with and trust. Your boss might make everyone at work angry if she keeps only giving raises to her cronies. While a crony is basically just a good pal or sidekick, the word sometimes has a negative connotation — that you and your crony are up to no good together. It also implies the idea of cronyism, or unfairly giving friends jobs or promotions they're not qualified for. Crony capitalism refers to doing that in an economic way, like people in government giving tax breaks to their friends. Crony is 17th century British student slang, from the Greek khronios, "long-lasting."
Vocabulary lists containing crony
Born a Crime
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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And Then There Were None
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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.
This concern placed the Fed in open conflict with Truman and his Treasury secretary, his crony John Wesley Snyder.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 27, 2025
But the other one, on its face, is just a 17-second clip featuring present-day Barron greeting UFC founder and Trump crony Dana White at one of his father’s campaign events.
From Slate • Jan. 20, 2025
Does that old-school Logan crony harbor a vendetta against the family after Logan fired him and replaced him with Roman?
From Salon • May 27, 2023
“I think you should be better in touch with your people instead of being a crony for someone.”
From Seattle Times • Dec. 4, 2022
Another guy, his crony, got out of the passenger side.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
