freeloader

as in parasite
a person who is supported by or seeks support from another without making an adequate return a freeloader who apparently intends to live off of his long-suffering parents forever

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of freeloader That leaves it in a diagnostic gray zone, not quite a harmless freeloader and not always a troublemaker either. — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Oct. 2026 There’s little worse in a gardener’s mind than watching their careful planning and hard work go up in a cloud of teeth, thanks to every four-legged freeloader within chewing distance. — ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026 Hookworms are freeloaders that live at the host’s expense inside their gut, drinking about two drops of blood per day. — Jay Kakade august 05, Refractor, 5 Aug. 2026 The wide-open scam enriched Haitian freeloaders as Bonheur personally netted a million bucks in just two years after Joe Biden rang the dinner bell for every grifter in the Third World. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 7 July 2026 Allied participation should likewise be expanded so that deterrence is shared rather than carried by Washington alone for the benefit of freeloaders who consume Middle Eastern hydrocarbons and fertilizers. — Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 That will weed out the frauds, freeloaders and slumlords. — Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Mar. 2026 That is to buy Apple stock, the greatest freeloader in this AI race. — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2026 Under Bolsonaro, state funding dried up, and the government painted artists as freeloaders wasting taxpayer money. — Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freeloader
parasite
Noun
  • The couple revealed exclusively to PEOPLE that their new rescue pup — whose name may or may not be Javi — is undergoing treatment for a parasite, delaying his arrival at their New York City home.
    — Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The Cockroach movement began as an online satirical campaign this summer after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young people to parasites.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Freeloader.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freeloader. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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