follower
Americannoun
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followers
plural
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a person or thing that follows.
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a person who follows another in regard to their ideas or belief; disciple or adherent.
- Synonyms:
- supporter
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a person who imitates, copies, or takes as a model or ideal.
He was little more than a follower of current modes.
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an attendant, servant, or retainer.
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a person who follows or subscribes to another's posts on a social media website.
He spent hours figuring out how to get more followers on Twitter.
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British Informal. a boyfriend or suitor, especially of a maidservant.
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Machinery. a part receiving motion from or following the movements of another part, especially a cam.
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Engineering, Building Trades. a concrete form attached to the head of a timber pile to permit casting of a concrete cap or pier.
noun
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a person who accepts the teachings of another; disciple; adherent
a follower of Marx
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an attendant or henchman
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an enthusiast or supporter, as of a sport or team
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(esp formerly) a male admirer
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rare a pursuer
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a machine part that derives its motion by following the motion of another part
Synonym Usage
Follower, adherent, partisan refer to someone who demonstrates allegiance to a person, a doctrine, a cause, or the like. Follower often has an implication of personal relationship or of slavish acquiescence. Adherent, a more formal word, has implications of active championship of a person or a point of view. Partisan, ordinarily meaning a person prejudiced and unreasoning in adherence to a party, during World War II took on the meaning of a member of certain groups in occupied countries of Europe who carried on underground resistance to the Nazis.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of follower
First recorded before 900; Middle English folwer, Old English folgere. See follow, -er 1
Explanation
A follower is a person who believes in a particular cause, faith, or specific person. A follower of Hinduism, for example, usually worships many gods. You might be a follower of Islam and also a follower of a popular self-help writer. In either case, you are devoted, loyal, and interested. You can also use the word follower to talk about someone who literally follows another person. When you play tag and the person who's "it" runs behind you as you dodge around trees, that person is a follower. The Old English root is folgere, "servant or disciple," from folgian, "follow, accompany, or pursue."
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:
Fox’s coverage pivoted from hard fouls to trans panic, Clark got dragged into a fight she has spent three years trying to avoid and Cunningham’s follower count exploded.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
It means a baptised follower is "out of communion" with the Church - meaning they cannot receive the sacraments, for example going to confession, or get married within the Roman Catholic Church.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
And one of the few answers offered by “Elle”—which rises out of what might be called the “Legally Blonde” Universe—is Lexi Minetree, the newcomer playing Elle Woods, jurisprudential-genius-to-be and follower of fashion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
When we first meet her, she’s not a super brave character, she is a rule follower, she is the designated driver, literally and metaphorically.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
In this area he was, it would seem, a follower, not a leader.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
It cited British singer and actress Rita Ora, who shared her holidays with "her millions of followers" on social media.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
In recent days, Dipke and other CJP leaders have shared several videos - of leaking roofs, dirty toilets, children sitting on the floor and angry students - with their 26 million Instagram followers.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Canadian writer Brendon Holder, who writes a popular tech and culture newsletter called Loosey, got thousands of new followers after releasing a serialized novella called “Come If You Want” on Substack last summer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
In the Olympic hospitality pecking order, the premium lounges beat the leisure lounges and the hospitality pavilions, which provide shared havens for followers of multiple sports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
He knows what he must do: He must keep the attention of the justices, he must convince them that he was the ringleader, that Karl and Rudi and Düwer were simply followers, no matter what.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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.
