What does "onhanger" mean?

That which, or one who, hangs on to, relies on, or is dependent upon another; a dependent.

What is a synonym for "onhanger"?

Common synonyms include: hanger on, hanger-on.

Onhanger

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
That which, or one who, hangs on to, relies on, or is dependent upon another; a dependent.
"He was one of Queen Mary's Papists, and now he is one of Queen Elizabeth's Protestants ; he was an onhanger of the Abbot of Abingdon, and now he lives as master of the manor-house."

Synonyms

All synonyms

hanger on hanger-on

Example

More examples

"He was one of Queen Mary's Papists, and now he is one of Queen Elizabeth's Protestants ; he was an onhanger of the Abbot of Abingdon, and now he lives as master of the manor-house."

Etymology

From on- + hanger. Compare West Frisian oanhinger, Dutch aanhanger, German Anhänger.

Related phrases

hang on hanger on

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