interloper
/ˌɪntɚˈloʊ̯pɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.31 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One who interferes, intrudes, or gets involved where not welcome; particularly, a self-interested intruder.
Example Sentences
- "They disliked the interloper, and forced him to leave."
- "In a button-up plaid shirt with an unwieldly suitcase, he is an interloper from another world – one whose first social faux pas is to make his way slowly through the various gates and arrive at the imposing front door on foot, rather than wait to be picked up from the train station by a servant."
Etymology
From inter- + loper (“runner, rover”), as in landloper (“vagrant”) (from lope (“to leap, to jump”) (originally dialectal)). Originally spelt enterloper and used in specific sense, “unauthorized trader trespassing on privileges of chartered companies”, later general sense of “self-interested intruder” from 1630s.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɪntɚˈloʊ̯pɚ/
- British English: /ˌɪntəˈləʊ̯pə/