henchman
/ˈhɛnt͡ʃ.mən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.91 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
Example Sentences
- "The glib sophistries of the special pleader and the verdant gullibility of the public; the ridiculous, now happily fast disappearing partisan bias of the voter and the venal instincts of the political henchman; the lack of proper moral stamina in much of our public press, and the tardiness of practical public appreciation where journals are true to the people's interests the fear of the vengeance;"
- "It is madness to commence war against the audacious despots under any leader like Lafayette, the traitor and venal henchman of despotism, against whom the cries of the patriots murdered on July 17 call to Heaven."
- "the great task confronting humankind today in effecting government that is worth its powder and shot is not regularity of attendance at the polls so much as in the intelligent analysis of the true leader from the henchman seeking selfish profit from the filling of an office."
- "In appreciation for his service of railroading Frank, the power-brokering Watson sent his venal henchman Dorsey to the U.S. Congress for two terms ."
- "The practice of doubling in this production further emphasizes the ascendancy of corporeal decay and violence in the tetralogy, for, in addition to Cade, Oliver Cotton also appears as the seductive cuckold-maker Suffolk and, in the final of the three installments of The Plantagenets, as Richard of Gloucester's venal and Machiavellian henchman, the Duke of Buckingham ."
- "The battle to be the absolute worst Trump henchman can feel so closely fought. But in the end, it’s always JD Vance, isn’t it?"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hangistaz Proto-West Germanic *hangist Old English henġest Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Old English *henġestmann Middle English henxman English henchman Inherited from Middle English henxman (“page, attendant”), from Old English *henġestmann, *hengstmann (“groom”, literally “horseman”), from henġest (“stallion, horse, steed, gelding”) + mann (“man”). Akin to archaic German Hengstmann (“groom”) and Icelandic hestamaður (“horseman, groom”).