-er

plural -ers · alternative -'er · alternative -r

1. A person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.

   see + -er → seer

   5 more examples

   read + -er → reader

   cook + -er → cooker

   compute + -er → computer

   run + -er → runner

   toast + -er → toaster

   Antonyms: -ee

2. informalA person or thing to which the root verb is done or can be done satisfactorily.

   look + -er → looker (“an attractive person”)

   1 more example

   keep + -er → keeper (“a person or thing worth keeping”)

3. chiefly denoting occupationsA person whose occupation is the root noun; (more broadly, occasionally with adjectives) a person characterized by the root.

   zine + -er → ziner

   5 more examples

   astrology + -er → astrologer

   baby boom + -er → baby boomer

   conlang + -er → conlanger

   cricket + -er → cricketer

   trumpet + -er → trumpeter

4. measurements or nouns denoting quantified setsA person or thing to which a certain number or measurement applies.

   six + -er → sixer

   3 more examples

   six foot + -er → six-footer

   three-wheel + -er → three-wheeler

   first grade + -er → first grader

5. slangentertainmentUsed to form nouns shorter than more formal synonyms.

   one hand + -er → one-hander (“one-man show”)

   2 more examples

   percent + -er → percenter (“commission agent”)

   oat + -er → oater (“a Western-themed movie”)

6. A person who is associated with, or supports a particular theory, doctrine, or political movement.

   woke + -er → woker

   3 more examples

   birth + -er → birther

   flat earth + -er → flat-earther

   truth + -er → truther

7. A thing that is related in some way to the root, such as by location or purpose.

   bacon + -er → baconer (“pig raised for bacon”)

   2 more examples

   chocolate chip + -er → chocolate chipper (“cookie containing chocolate chips”)

   sternwheel + -er → sternwheeler (“vessel driven by a sternwheel”)

8. slangIndicates a correspondence or coincidence between the action or condition indicated by the root and the noun being described.

   piss + -er → pisser (“a hilariously funny event or situation”)

9. Suffix denoting a resident or inhabitant of (the place denoted by the proper noun); used to form a demonym.

   London + -er → Londoner

   3 more examples

   New York + -er → New Yorker

   Dublin + -er → Dubliner

   New England + -er → New Englander

10. Suffix denoting residency in or around a place, district, area, or region.

    island + -er → islander

    2 more examples

    highland + -er → highlander

    East End + -er → East-Ender

1. idiomaticobsoleteSuffix used to form the plural of a small number of English nouns.

   childer, calver, lamber, linder ("loins")

1. now especially short onesMore; used to form the comparative.

   wet + -er → wetter

   5 more examples

   hard + -er → harder

   motley + -er → motlier

   eerie + -er → eerier

   clayey + -er → clayier

   The younger child was outgoing, the older quite reserved.

1. More; used to form the comparative.

1. Frequently; used to form frequentative verbs.

   twitter, clamber, bicker, mutter, wander, flutter, flicker, slither, smother, sputter

   Synonyms: -le

1. lawInstance of (the verbal action); used to form nouns from verbs.

   remit + -er → remitter

   4 more examples

   disclaim + -er → disclaimer

   misname + -er → misnomer

   rebut + -er → rebutter

   attain + -er → attainder

1. Used to form diminutives.

   shive + -er → shiver

   2 more examples

   slive + -er → sliver

   splint + -er → splinter

1. Used to form slang or colloquial equivalents of words.

   rugby + -er → rugger

   3 more examples

   association + -er → soccer (“association football”)

   football + -er → footer (“association football”)

   Radcliffe + -er → Radder (“a building at Oxford University”)

1. dialectalA suffix creating adjectives from verbs, indicating aptitude, proneness, or tendency toward a specified action

   wake + -er → waker (“tending to wake, watchful”)

   2 more examples

   clive + -er → cliver (“apt to cleave or adhere to, tenacious, expert as seizing”)

   slip + -er → slipper (“tending to make slip, slippery”)

   Synonyms: -le

1. ChineseliteratureJunior, child, younger person. (Attached to a name, usually one syllable of the given name.)

   Li’er said hello to his father.

   3 more examples

   Yue’er began to laugh again and her tears shimmered like dew on a lotus leaf disturbed by a breeze. Then we heard a sound. It was Man’er.

   1979, Women of China, page 44

   The fish was laid out on the table, but Ping’er had not come back, nor had his father.

   2002 [1934], Xiao Hong, “The Field of Life and Death”, in Howard Goldblatt, transl., The Field of Life and Death & Tales of Hulan River, →ISBN, page 32

   Ying’er was not yet three years old. Li’er had always been the one to play with her or to carry her places on his back.

   2014 [1959], Zhong Lihe, “The Little Ridge”, in T. M. McClellan, transl., From the Old Country: Stories and Sketches of China and Taiwan, →ISBN, page 202