stalker

American  

[staw-ker] / ˈstɔ kər /

noun

1. a person who pursues game, prey, or a person stealthily.

2. a person who harasses another person, as a former lover, a famous person, etc., in an aggressive, often threatening and illegal manner.

   Hollywood stars often have security guards to keep dangerous stalkers at bay.

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Etymology

Origin of stalker

stalk ² (verb) + -er ¹

Explanation

You might joke about your neighborhood stalker who always seems to know where you've been and what time you get home from work every day, but it can actually be a little creepy to know that someone's watching you. A stalker can describe anyone who sneaks around, but it usually means a person who follows one specific individual obsessively. The word wasn't used this way until the early 1990s. Before that, it was mostly used interchangeably with "poacher" to mean "someone who pursues and steals game animals." The Old English word stelan lead to the English word steal, which is most likely the root of stalk.

Example Sentences

Yet there are red flags: William has a stalker, a woman nicknamed the Rabbit, who sends Sam scary messages demanding she back off.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

Swift thought she had a stalker, and recalls Siegrist saying, “I’m not crazy, I promise. Just let me tell you my story.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

The 1987 movie features Schwarzenegger’s Dutch leading a multiracial band of bros on a black ops mission to eliminate guerrillas in a Central American jungle, only to be butchered by an invisible stalker from space.

From Salon • Nov. 12, 2025

The alleged stalker of Madeleine McCann's parents has told a jury she is still "50-50" about whether she is their missing daughter.

From BBC • Oct. 29, 2025

He probably kept little stalker charts and notebooks on everyone he knew.

From "Winger" by Andrew Smith