hireling
2
8.6
- noun
- /ˈhaɪərlɪŋ/
- Offensive
:
mercenario
- The business owner realized that his hirelings cared more about their paychecks than the company's success.
- a mere hireling
Examples
-
Thus, an amazing number of people have been reduced from a comfortable state of independence to the precarious condition of mere hirelings, who, when out of work, immediately come on the parish.
Academic text (1995) -
Second, armies were composed wholly of hirelings attracted by decent wages or fortune seekers in search of plunder.
Academic text (2000) -
Did he give it to some unworthy political hireling?
-
You can't expect a mere hireling to serve as a genuine mother, which was really what he was asking.
Fiction book (1995) -
I think the mentality of most congregations that interview is that this man is a hireling.
Blog text (4) -
The hirelings she had personally assembled were against her, and so was the ultimate arbiter upstairs.
Fiction book (1990) -
Some targets managed to ameliorate the effect of a boycott by bringing in a workforce of hirelings, usually loyal Protestants from the North.
Academic text (1992) -
Many people criticize politicians for hiring hirelings instead of loyal assistants.
-
In his book, the author argues that a hireling lacks true commitment to their work.
Antonyms
How Loyal
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Hireling comes from hire meaning 'payment' and the ending -ling meaning 'a person', often thought of as less important, as in underling. So a hireling is someone who works only for pay and is often seen as having little loyalty.