hireling

[ hahyuhr-ling ]
See synonyms for hireling on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who works only for pay, especially in a menial or boring job, with little or no concern for the value of the work.

adjective
  1. serving for pay only.

  2. venal; mercenary.

Origin of hireling

1
First recorded before 1000; late Middle English hirlyng, Old English hȳrling; see hire, -ling1

Other words for hireling

Words Nearby hireling

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hireling in a sentence

  • And it was only last night that he had seen Goritz's fellow assassin and hireling.

    The Secret Witness | George Gibbs
  • What a difference there is between him who enters on a labor of love and the hireling who works for pay!

    The Mysteries of Montreal | Charlotte Fuhrer
  • She knew by this time that Jotan had nothing to do with her abduction; no hireling of his would dare handle her so roughly.

    Warrior of the Dawn | Howard Carleton Browne
  • The Old Baptists had long been declaiming against college-bred preachers and a hireling ministry.

  • Who ransomed thy sire, my noble steed, from the galling yoke of an hireling?

    The Arab's Pledge | Edward L. Mitford

British Dictionary definitions for hireling

hireling

/ (ˈhaɪəlɪŋ) /


noun
  1. derogatory a person who works only for money, esp one paid to do something unpleasant

Origin of hireling

1
Old English hӯrling; related to Dutch huurling; see hire, -ling 1

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