a suffix used in forming nouns designating persons from the object of their occupation or labor (hatter; tiler; tinner; moonshiner ), or from their place of origin or abode (Icelander; southerner; villager ), or designating either persons or things from some special characteristic or circumstance (six-footer; three-master; teetotaler; fiver; tenner ).
a suffix serving as the regular English formative of agent nouns, being attached to verbs of any origin (bearer; creeper; employer; harvester; teacher; theorizer ).
a person or thing that performs a specified action
reader
decanter
lighter
a person engaged in a profession, occupation, etc
writer
baker
bootlegger
a native or inhabitant of
islander
Londoner
villager
a person or thing having a certain characteristic
newcomer
double-decker
fiver
(in the US) Emergency Room (in hospitals)
Elizabeth Regina
Eduardus Rex
Middle English -er(e), a coalescence of Old English -ere agentive suffix (cognate with Old High German -āri, Gothic -areis, from unattested Germanic -arjaz, from unattested Slavic -arĭ, from Latin -ārius ) and Old English -ware suffix forming nouns of ethnic or residential origin (e.g., Rōmware “Romans”), cognate with Old High German -āri, from unattested Germanic -warioz “people”; see origin at -ary
Middle English < Anglo-French -er, equivalent to Old French -er, -ier < Latin -ārius, -ārium. Cf. -ary, -eer, -ier 2
< French, originally infinitive suffix -er, -re
Middle English -er ( e ), -re, Old English -ra, -re; cognate with German -er
Middle English -er ( e ), -re, Old English -or; cognate with Old High German -or, German -er
Middle English; Old English -r-; cognate with German - ( e ) r-
Probably modeled on nonagentive uses of -er 1; said to have first become current in University College, Oxford, 1875–80
From New Latin Edwardus Rex
From New Latin Elizabeth Regina
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There are things money can’t buy which, Tom $teyer — er, Steyer — is just the latest to discover.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
The last years of the V8 era, once refuelling was banned at the end of 2009, fluctuated between intensely competitive and, er, not.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
The former Oracle employee’s comedy—which can poke fun at his previous career in sales, er, the “revenue side of strategic pipeline development”—has struck a chord and is earning him millions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
We should just accept that we’re better off living in a van – er, cabin by the river.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2026
The magistrate’s face got red, and he stammered, “I said... What I said was, er, I said there would be an empty house, and...”
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
"The specific name lii honors Li Er, the ancient Chinese philosopher better known as Laozi," said the research team, led by Bo Cai.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2026
But the current Draco obsession stems from the transliteration of his surname, "Ma Er Fu", which contains the Chinese characters for "horse" and "good fortune" -- an auspicious omen for the year ahead.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
"Er, yeah, we'd like to go down," a female voice said over the radio as the crisis erupted at 16,000ft.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2024
“Hong Kong has become much more inclusive for mainlanders,” said Zheng Huiwen, the manager at one of the Hong Kong branches of Tai Er Pickled Fish, a Sichuan fish restaurant from mainland China.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
“You were just a little — overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er — perhaps it will be best if we don’t revive him until we’re safely back in the castle. We can take him like this....”
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
Anesthesiologists and ER doctors are among the winners under the setup created by a 2020 law to protect patients from surprise medical bills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
He has also had a prolific television career, with recurring roles in standards including "Hill Street Blues" and "ER."
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
ER visits in the U.S. rise during heat emergencies, according to a 2021 study published in a British medical journal that found those visits increase by about 8% during days with extreme heat.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Her resume also includes single-episode roles in the TV dramas Charmed, ER and Touched by an Angel.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
I don’t blame him for hauling ass to the ER.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
It appears that these inventive students took "soc" from the middle of the word "association" and added "-er," producing "soccer".
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Her th sounds were more like d sounds, pronouncing the word "those" like "doze," and if a word ended in -er, like "number," she said, "num-bah."
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2022
Tweaking that line to “in there” gives you an -er sound at the end of both lines.
From Slate ● May 31, 2020
The girl is embarrassed that she doesn’t understand, and replies, “I -er, oh, I don’t know, suh. I didn’t know you-er anybody could ride uh fish.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2020
Soccer was supposed to be an easy one, but I forgot about the -er not -re at the end.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
But the betting here is that a viewer will be preoccupied by thinking about the multitude of head injuries someone like Robby would encounter in the E.R., and why he doesn’t wear a helmet himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
“Nobody ever wins a fight,” he solemnly tells the hot E.R. doctor who patches him up, echoing the words of Swayze’s sunrise tai chi practitioner.
From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2024
Presley, who’s vowed to work to expand Medicaid, responded from a shuttered E.R.:
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
The brick building at 1916 Post Alley opened in 1903 — four years before Pike Place Market started up a few blocks away — as the E.R.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2023
The E.R. staff didn’t mess around at all when we got there.
From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick
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.
