hireling

[hahyuhr-ling]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hireling ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

serving for pay only.

venal; mercenary.

Origin of hireling

before 1000; late Middle English hirlyng, Old English hȳrling. See hire, -ling¹

Synonyms for hireling

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hireling ON THESAURUS.COM

1. menial, minion, flunky, lackey, retainer.

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

Related Words for hireling

employee, worker, laborer, aide

Examples from the Web for hireling

Historical Examples of hireling

Your own country, and your country's cause, above every other; all else is the hireling's part.
Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume II (of II)
Charles James Lever
O remarkable shepherd of the flock, and assuredly no hireling!
Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln
Charles L. Marson
Wouldn't I be a hireling too if—if I had anything to do with it?
The Rose Garden Husband
Margaret Widdemer
Everything could not be trusted to one man, and that man a hireling.
The Vicar of Bullhampton
Anthony Trollope
I was hireling to a rich farmer, and drove his plough—four oxen there were.
Aucassin and Nicolette
Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for hireling

hireling

noun

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

Word Origin for hireling

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

Word Origin and History for hireling

"one who works for hire," Old English hyrling; see hire + -ling. As an adjective by 1580s.