henchman
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈhɛnt͡ʃ.mən/
Forms: form: henchmen
Etymology: From Middle English henxman (“page, attendant”), from Old English *hengstmann, *hengestmann (“groom”, literally “horseman”), from hengst, hengest (“stallion, horse, steed, gelding”) (from Proto-Germanic *hangistaz (“stallion”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱanḱest-, *kankest- (“horse”)) + mann (“man”). Cognate with archaic German Hengstmann (“a groom”), Icelandic hestamaður (“horseman, groom”).
Senses: synonyms: word: acolyte
word: adjutant
word: aide
word: bootlicker
word: disciple
word: flunkey
word: footman
word: follower
word: henchman
word: hireling
word: inferior
word: lackey
word: lap dog
word: lickspittle
word: man Friday
word: minion
word: myrmidon
word: poodle
word: retainer
word: right-hand man
word: right-hand woman
word: servant
word: stooge
word: subordinate
word: sycophant
word: toady
word: underling
word: vassal
word: yes man
glosses: A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
examples: text: 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;
ref: 1906, W. G. Joerns, “The Railroad Hold-up”, in Watson's Magazine, volume 5, page 397:
text: 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.
ref: 1916, The History of Nations - Volume 10, page 165:
text: 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.
ref: 1935, William Dudley Pelley, Nations-in-law: an Unconventional Analysis Cleaning the Barnacles from the Ship of State:
text: 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 .
ref: 1998, Jay Robert Nash, Terrorism in the 20th Century, page 78:
text: 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 .
ref: 2005, Christian Riegel, Response to Death: The Literary Work of Mourning, page 53:
glosses: A person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests.
examples: text: Most of the carpet joints were run by the mobsters and local henchmen associated with the Mayfield Road Gang, but Peter Schmidt's Playtorium and Glenn Rendezvous were also included.
ref: 2014, Paul A. Tenkotte, James C. Claypool, The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky, page 385:
glosses: An assistant member of a criminal gang.
examples: text: Henchmen had placed, as was their habit, each warrior's gear and trappings above his pile of skins.
ref: 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 33:
glosses: A page to a prince or other person of high rank.
Derived terms: hench
henchboy
henchmanship