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.
A friendly game against, er, whoever, or a momentous day for the Scottish national team and the chosen ones bound for the States - same difference.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
We should just accept that we’re better off living in a van – er, cabin by the river.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2026
It even did it under George W. Bush, before it … er … didn’t.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 24, 2026
With “Young Mothers,” the Dardennes’ 13th feature, the pair of writer-directors have baked up yet another grueling slice of bitter life for a refined audience that enjoys being, er, grueled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
So I sort of, er, physically reacted to her hug.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
"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
“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
God we hope not, we don’t want to work those nights … Er, let’s hope so, for democracy!
From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2024
“Look, I’ll deal with Maximilian. Er, Max,” Nurse Beverly told the chauffeur.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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
Noah Wyle -- who rose to fame on "ER" -- has racked up prizes as star of "The Pitt," including an Emmy, and is again a nominee for best drama actor this time around.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 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
He and Pawlak would hurry out to the cement landing pad by the hospital to pull loaded stretchers off the choppers and rush the injured into the ER.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
Among wealthy university students in the 1880s and 1890s, there was a habit of shortening words and adding "-er" to the end, creating a kind of slang.
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
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
In his entry on words ending in either -re or -er, Fowler, a Brit, noted that Americans were more consistent with their spelling.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2019
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
Weicker was born in Paris in 1931, to Lowell P. Weicker Sr. — whose family founded the pharmaceutical giant E.R.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 28, 2023
You will need to drop everything and get him to the E.R. — no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing.
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.
