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:
Social-media algorithms now drive content more based on users’ interest and less according to a creator’s follower count, boosting the reach of small creators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
A New Zealand court has jailed a religious sect leader over the death of an elderly follower who had travelled from China to live with his family.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
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
Having made several trips to the mainland, Li was particularly impressed by China’s infrastructure and its technological advancements in drones and robotics, areas where Taiwan has been a follower more than an innovator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
If he knew what that letter was, then why in the world wasn’t he marching it straight to a security officer like the good little rule follower that he was?
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Elon Musk promoted the story to his 241 million followers.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
What does Gillis have, besides a large audience of followers and a Netflix show, that others who’ve never hosted the show don’t?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
The leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, which has millions of social media followers, have pledged to continue their protests until Kumar steps down.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
“Didn’t even think those could go that fast!” one of Mauri’s Strava’s followers commented on a recent run.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
Bobby had behaved this way in his teen years, displaying unforgiving impatience toward any of his young followers who chanced, inadvertently, to displease him.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
