What does "freeloader" mean?

One who does not contribute or pay appropriately; one who gets a free ride, etc. without paying a fair share.

What is a synonym for "freeloader"?

Common synonyms include: free rider, barnacle, beat, beggar, bloodsucker, bloodsucker.

Pronounced //ˈfɹiːləʊdə(ɹ)//.

//ˈfɹiːləʊdə(ɹ)// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Noun

1
One who does not contribute or pay appropriately; one who gets a free ride, etc. without paying a fair share. colloquial
2
someone who takes advantage of the generosity of others wordnet
3
A person who takes expired unsold merchandise from the back of supermarket premises. Canada, New-Zealand, UK

"Tom is nothing but a freeloader."

From free + load + -er, originally US 1930s.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.