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cheerleader

cheerleader

196 2.9
A person who leads chants and dances to get the crowd excited for a sports team
  • noun
  • /ˈtʃɪrˌliːdər/
translation icon : porrista
  • At the championship game, the cheerleader led the crowd in loud chants to support her team.
  • a school cheerleader
  • a sports cheerleader

These aren't the high school cheerleaders and the quarterbacks.

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Examples

  • Uh, he was on the football team and I was a cheerleader.

  • She was a cheerleader, first violin in the school orchestra, and captain of the girls' softball team.

  • But I sort of fell into things because I was a cheerleader in high school.

  • When I got cast, it was one of the first jobs that I did and I was a cheerleader with a baby.

  • In fact, she says that her daughter was the all American girl, a cheerleader, a track star, a straight, A honor student.

  • "You know," I said, "I wanted to be a cheerleader more than anything else in the world."

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The most important thing a cheerleader wears is her attitude.

  • For example, when I was a cheerleader at a school hockey game, my dad would attend the game.

    Academic text (2018)
  • You realize how hard the cheerleaders have worked to get where they are.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • I always knew she would make a good cheerleader for the Henenlotter Hamsters football team.

Antonyms

3.4

On the other side in a fight, game, or argument

Idioms

To give loud, cheerful support to someone to encourage them

How Vocal

cheerleader
196 2.9
superfan
  • Informal
4 4.1
supporter
817 1.0
fan
1.0
spectator
123 2.6

Surface Forms

cheerleader singular
cheerleaders plural

Morphology

cheerleader = cheer + leader (transparent) = cheer + leader

Direct compound of 'cheer' + 'leader': a person who leads chants or cheers, meaning is directly derivable.

Etymology

Cheerleader combines cheer ('shout of support' or 'happy call') and leader ('one who leads'), so a cheerleader is someone who leads the crowd in cheers to encourage a team.