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

The story of Donny Dunn, a comedian and barman who becomes the target of a stalker, it too won critical acclaim and was swiftly commissioned as a series by Netflix.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

Has Elliott, a successful writer but no celebrity, somehow acquired a stalker?

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

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 organiser of an annual vigil held to mark the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has told a court she was "stunned" after being approached by the alleged stalker of the missing girl's parents.

From BBC • Oct. 10, 2025

It just proved that everyone was right about Seanie being a stalker.

From "Winger" by Andrew Smith