follower

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈfɑːloʊɝ/ UK /ˈfɒləʊə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #17360

Meanings

1

noun
A person who subscribes to someone's posts on social media.

She has over fifty thousand followers on Instagram.
2

noun
A person who supports and accepts the leadership or ideas of another.

The new leader quickly gained loyal followers.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a person who supports and... adherent disciple

Opposites

leader precursor

Word family

Forms followers

Derived forms christfollowerfollowershipnonfollowerrule-follower

Related forms following

Etymology

From Middle English folwer, folwere, folewer, from Old English folgere (“follower; attendant; disciple”), equivalent to follow + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Foulger, West Frisian folger, Dutch volger, German Folger, Swedish följare.

folwer Middle English folgere Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# follower

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɑːloʊɝ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɒləʊə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 17360

## Meanings
1. A person who subscribes to someone's posts on social media.
2. A person who supports and accepts the leadership or ideas of another.

## Examples
- She has over fifty thousand followers on Instagram.
- The new leader quickly gained loyal followers.

## Antonyms
- leader
- precursor

## Derived Forms
- christfollower
- followership
- nonfollower
- rule-follower

## Related Forms
- following

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: folwer
- Root: folgere

## Etymology
From Middle English folwer, folwere, folewer, from Old English folgere (“follower; attendant; disciple”), equivalent to follow + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Foulger, West Frisian folger, Dutch volger, German Folger, Swedish följare.

## AI Etymology
Follower comes from Middle English folwer, folwere, folewer, from Old English folgere (“follower; attendant; disciple”), equivalent to follow + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Foulger, West Frisian folger, Dutch volger, German Folger, Swedish följare. In current use, the main senses are “A person who subscribes to someone's posts on social media” and “A person who supports and accepts the leadership or ideas of another”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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