follower

[ fol-oh-er ]

/ ˈfɒl oʊ ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR follower ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that follows.

a person who follows another in regard to his or her ideas or belief; disciple or adherent.

a person who imitates, copies, or takes as a model or ideal: He was little more than a follower of current modes.

an attendant, servant, or retainer.

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.

British Informal. a boyfriend or suitor, especially of a maidservant.

Machinery. a part receiving motion from or following the movements of another part, especially a cam.

Engineering, Building Trades. a concrete form attached to the head of a timber pile to permit casting of a concrete cap or pier.

Nearby words

Origin of follower

before 900; Middle English folwer, Old English folgere. See follow, -er¹

SYNONYMS FOR follower

2. supporter.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR follower ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR follower

2. opponent, adversary, enemy, foe.

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Synonym study

2. Follower, adherent, partisan refer to someone who demonstrates allegiance to a person, a doctrine, a cause, and 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for follower

When I started writing this book, I noticed that I had a new Twitter follower by the name of Lonnie Konkel.
Your Fake Followers Are Catfishing You: Bacon Mavens, Newt’s Fake Fans, and Other Social Media Scams|Charles Seife|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Al-Zarqawi believed in the importance of purging apostates – something his follower clearly endorses.
Why ISIS Won’t Take Baghdad|Jamie Dettmer|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In early 2011, Russia warned the U.S. that Tsarnaev, who grew up in the region, was a follower of radical Islam.
Why?|Justin Green|April 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
At other times, he spoke of emulating the settler movement, of which he was a follower in his youth.
Meet The Israeli Left's New Ideas Factory|Ali Gharib|April 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST

In July, 2012, he awarded a house to his three-millionth Twitter follower.
Hugo Chavez: Great Timing, Awful Leadership|David Frum|March 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
These were the visionary and turbulent (p. 37) Archer and his follower Ratcliffe.
The Beginners of a Nation|Edward Eggleston.
He regarded him as a follower of the evil one, and could not hear his name mentioned with equanimity.
Masters in Art, Part 79, Volume 7, July, 1906: Ingres|Anonymous
Johnson had a relation called Nathaniel, and Pickwick had a “follower” also Nathaniel.
Pickwickian Manners and Customs|Percy Fitzgerald
His Excellency, too, is a man of warlike turn, a follower of the sports of the field.
The Virginians|William Makepeace Thackeray
It is not that Scott could not have done what his follower did, had he so chosen; only that as a matter of fact he did not.
James Fenimore Cooper|Thomas R. Lounsbury

British Dictionary definitions for follower

follower

/ (ˈfɒləʊə) /

noun

a person who accepts the teachings of another; disciple; adherenta follower of Marx

an attendant or henchman

an enthusiast or supporter, as of a sport or team

(esp formerly) a male admirer

rare a pursuer

a machine part that derives its motion by following the motion of another part

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for follower

follower

Old English folgere "retainer, servant, disciple; successor," agent noun from follow. Related: Followers.

follower

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of follower

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for follower

follower

noun

follower